Ever feel like your co-workers — or, worse, your boss — are speaking to you in a different language? No, I'm not talking about your team suddenly deciding to conduct a meeting entirely in French. I'm talking about what often seems to be the language of the business world: acronyms.
While some of us have the guts to ask for clarification when we have no idea what's being said, others of us cringe at the thought of asking potentially "stupid" questions. Well, to everyone in the latter group: Today's your lucky day. We've rounded up abbreviations for the most commonly used terms that you're likely to run into at work (or more likely, in an email).
Better yet, they're categorized by department, so you can prep before a meeting with your finance, technical, or marketing teams. (And because we're pretty sure that, regardless of your role, you don't want to be the only one who nods with a confused smile when there's a RFD because the CTR for your website decreased and a QA test is required by EOD.)
General
BID: Break it down
COB: Close of business
EOD: End of day
EOM: End of message
EOT: End of thread
EOW: End of week
ETA: Estimated time of arrival
FTE: Full-time employee
FWIW: For what it's worth
IAM: In a meeting
IMO: In my opinion
KISS: Keep it simple stupid
LET: Leaving early today
LMK: Let me know
MoM: Month over month
MTD: Month to date
NIM: No internal message
OOO: Out of office
OT: Off topic
OTP: On the phone
PA: Performance appraisal
POC: Point of contact
PTE: Part-time employee
PTO: Paid time off
NRN: No reply necessary
NSFW: Not safe for work
NWR: Not work related
Re: Referring to
RFD: Request for discussion
SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound
SME: Subject matter expert
TED: Tell me, explain to me, describe to me
TL;DR: Too long, didn't read
TLTR: Too long to read
TOS: Terms of service
TYT: Take your time
WFH: Work from home
WIIFM: What's in it for me
WOM: Word of mouth
YTD: Year to date
Finance
41. ACCT: Account
42. AP: Accounts payable
43. AR: Accounts receivable
44. BS: Balance sheet
45. CPU: Cost per unit
46. CR: Credit
47. DR: Debit
48. EPS: Earnings per share
49. FIFO: First in, first out
50. IPO: Initial public offering
51. LIFO: Last in, first out
52. LWOP: Leave without pay
53. NAV: Net assets value
54. P-card: Purchase card
55. ROA: Return on assets
56. ROE: Return on equity
57. ROI: Return on investment
58. P/E: Price to earnings
59. P&L: Profit and loss
Technical
60. API: Application program interface
61. CPU: Central processing unit
62. CSS: Cascading style sheet
63. FTP: File transport protocol
64. HTML: HyperText markup language
65. HTTP: HyperText transfer protocol
66. HTTPS: HyperText transfer protocol secure
67. IM: Instant messaging
68. IP: Internet protocol
69. ISP: Internet service provider
70. OS: Operating system
71. QA: Quality assurance
72. UI: User interface
73. URL: Universal resource locator
74. UX: User experience
75. VPN: Virtual private network
76. RAM: Random-access memory
77. ROR: Ruby on Rails
78. RSS: Rich site summary or really simple syndication
79. WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get
Marketing and sales
80. AIDA: Attention, interest, desire, action
81. B2B: Business to business
82. B2C: Business to consumer
83. BR: Bounce rate
84. CMS: Content management system
85. CPC: Cost per click
86. CTA: Call to action
87. CTR: Click through rate
88. CR: Conversion rate
89. CRM: Customer relationship management
90. DM: Direct message or direct mail
91. ESP: Email service provider
92. GA: Google Analytics
93. KPI: Key performance indicator
94. PPC: Pay per click
95. PV: Page view
96. RFP: Request for proposal
97. ROS: Run of site
98. RT: Retweet
99. SaaS: Software as a service
100. SEO: Search engine optimization
101. SM: Social media
102. SMB: Small to medium business
103. SWOT: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
104. UV: Unique visitor
Job and department titles
105. BD: Business development
106. CAO: Chief analytics officer
107. CDO: Chief data officer
108. CEO: Chief executive officer
109. CFO: Chief financial officer
110. CIO: Chief information officer
111. CMO: Chief marketing officer
112. COO: Chief operating officer
113. CPA: Certified public accountant
114. CSO: Chief security officer
115. CSR: Corporate social responsibility
116. CTO: Chief technology officer
117. CFP: Certified financial planner
118. DOE: Depending on experience
119. GC: General counsel
120. HR: Human resources
121. PM: Project manager
122. PR: Public relations