ABBREVIATIONS








approx. - approximately
appt. - appointment
apt. - apartment
A.S.A.P. - as soon as possible
B.Y.O.B. - bring your own
bottle/beverage/beer
c/o - care of
dept. - department
D.I.Y. - Do it yourself
est. - established
E.T.A. - estimated time of arrival
min. - minute or minimum
misc. - miscellaneous
Mr. - Mister
Mrs. (pronounced “missus”) - from the
honorific “mistress”
Ms. - Miss
no. - number
tel. - telephone
temp. - temperature or temporary
vet. - veteran or veterinarian
vs. - versus
tsp or t (lowercase) - teaspoon/teaspoons
tbs, tbsp or T (uppercase) tablespoon/tablespoons
c - cup/cups
gal - gallon
lb - pound/pounds
















pt – pint
qt - quartAve. - Avenue
Blvd. - Boulevard
Cyn. - Canyon
Dr. - Drive
Ln. - Lane
Rd. - Road
St. - Street
E - east
N - north
NE - northeast
NW - northwest
S - south
SE - southeast
SW - southwest
W - west









BA - Bachelor of Arts
BS - Bachelor of Science
MA - Master of Arts
MBA - Master of Business Administration
MFA - Master of Fine Arts
M. Phil or MPhil - Master of Philosophy
JD - Juris Doctor
DC - Doctor of Chiropractic
PhD, Ph.D, DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy




























Acct. - Accountant or accounting
Asst. - Assistant
CMO - Chief Marketing Officer
CFO - Chief Financial Officer
CEO - Chief Executive Officer
Corp. - Corporation
EVP - Executive Vice President
Inc. - Incorporated
MD - Managing Director
VP - Vice President
SVP - Senior Vice President






















PA - Personal Assistant
AFAIK - as far as I know
AFK - away from keyboard
BRB - be right back
IIRC - if I recall/remember correctly
LOL - laugh out loud
NP - no problem
ROFL - rolling on the floor laughing
TY - thank you
YW - you’re welcome
DM - direct message
WTH - what the heck/hell
FTR - for the record
sry - sorry
thx - thanks
ofc - of course
IMO - in my opinion
IMHO - in my humble/honest opinion
tbh - to be honest
idk/idek - I don’t know/I don’t even know
fyi - for your information
jk - just kidding






AM - ante meridiem (before noon)
PM - post meridiem (after noon)
AD - Anno Domini ("The Year of Our Lord”)
BC - Before Christ
GMT - Greenwich Mean Time
UTC - Universal Time Coordinated (also
referred to as Coordinated Universal Time)
PST - Pacific Standard Time
MST - Mountain Standard Time
CST - Central Standard Time
EST - Eastern Standard Time












e.g. - exampli gratia (example given)
etc. - etcetera (and other things)
i.e. - id est (that is)
n.b. or NB - nota bene (“take notice” or "note
well”)
P.S. - post scriptum (written after)
viz. - videlicet (namely)
et al. - et alia (and others)
ibid. - ibidem (in the same place)


Q.E.D. - quod erat demonstrandum (which
was to be demonstrated)
C.V. - curriculum vitae (course of life)
Common Acronyms in Pop Culture







ABBA (musical group) - Agnetha, Björn,
Benny, Anni-Frid (first names of the band’s
members)
BUMP (slang) - Bring Up My Post
HER (musician) - Having Everything
Revealed
NERD (musical group) - No one Ever Really
Dies
SHIELD (TV show) - Strategic Homeland
Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics
Division
WALL-E (animated character) - Waste
Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class
YAHOO (search engine) - Yet Another
Hierarchical Officious Oracle
Common Acronyms in Chat








ASAP - As Soon As Possible
BAE - Before Anyone Else
BOLO - Be On the Look Out
FISH - First In, Still Here
FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out
GIF - Graphics Interchange Format (but is it
“jif” or “gif”?)
LOL - Laughing Out Loud (some people
pronounce this as “lahl”)
YOLO - You Only Live Once
Common Initialisms in Chat
 AFK - Away From Keyboard
 BBL - Be Back Later
 BBS - Be Back Soon
 BEG - Big Evil Grin
 BRB - Be Right Back
 BTW - By The Way
 EG - Evil Grin
 IDK - I Don't Know
 IMO - In My Opinion
 IRL - In Real Life
 LMK - Let Me Know
 NOYB - None of Your Business
 OMG - Oh My God
 POS - Parents Over Shoulder
 ROFL - Rolling On the Floor Laughing
 SMH - Shaking My Head
 TTYL - Talk To You Later
 WTH - What The Heck (or Hell)
Common Acronyms in the Military and
Government









AWOL - Absent WithOut Leave
FUBAR - F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition
OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
NAFTA - North American Free Trade
Agreement
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
Navy SEALs - Navy Sea Air Land forces
POTUS - President of the United States
SCOTUS - Supreme Court of the United
States
SWAT - Special Weapons And Tactics
Common Initialisms in the Military and
Government
 CIA - Central Intelligence Agency
 CPS - Child Protective Services
 CSI - Crime Scene Investigation
 DMV - Division of Motor Vehicles
 DNC - Democratic National Committee
 DOD - Department of Defense
 DON - Department of the Navy
 DZ - Drop Zone
 FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation
 GIB - GI Bill
 MIA - Missing In Action
 POW - Prisoner Of War
 RNC - Republican National Committee
 REAP - Reserve Education Assistance
Program
 UN - United Nations
 USAF - United States Air Force
Common Informative Acronyms






AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome
DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education
PEMDAS - Parentheses, Exponent,
Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction
(math order of operations)
RADAR - Radio Detection And Ranging
SONAR - Sound Navigation And Ranging
ZIP code - Zone Improvement Plan code
Common Informative Initialisms
 ABS - Anti-lock Braking System
 ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder
 ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder
 AMA - Against Medical Advice














CDC - Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
DOA - Dead On Arrival
DOB - Date Of Birth
DIY - Do It Yourself
ESL - English As A Second Language
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus
IQ - Intelligence Quotient
MD - Medical Doctor
OTC - Over The Counter
PPV - Pay Per View
PS - Post Script
SUV - Sports Utility Vehicle
UFO - Unidentified Flying Object
Common Acronyms in Business








CAPTCHA - Completely Automated Public
Turing Test (to tell Computers and Humans
Apart)
DAEMON - Disk And Execution Monitor
KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid
NASDAQ - National Association of Securities
Dealers Automated Quotations
SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, Threats
SMART Goals - Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound Goals
TED - Tell me, Explain to me, Describe to me
Common Initialisms in Business
 ADP - Automated Data Processing
 AKA - Also Known As
 CDT - Central Daylight Time
 CST - Central Standard Time
 DBA - Doing Business As
 DND - Do Not Disturb
 EDS - Electronic Data Systems
 EOD - End of Day
 EOW - End of Week
 EDT - Eastern Daylight Time
 EST - Eastern Standard Time
 ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
 FYI - For Your Information
 HR - Human Resources
 MBA - Masters of Business Administration
 MDT - Mountain Daylight Time
 MST - Mountain Standard Time
 POS - Point Of Service
 PR - Public Relations
 PDT - Pacific Daylight Time
 PST - Pacific Standard Time
 TBA - To Be Announced
 TBD - To Be Determined
























FLAG – Foreign Language Association of
Georgia
MADD – Mothers Against Drunk Driving
PAWS – Progressive Animal Welfare Society
PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals
AA – Alcoholics Anonymous
AARP – American Association of Retired
Persons
ADA – American Dental Association
AFL – American Football League
AMA – American Medical Association
APA – American Psychological Association
ESPN – Entertainment and Sports
Programming Network
LDR - Long Distance Relationship
MLA – Modern Language Association
MOTOS - Member Of The Opposite Sex
MOTSS - Member Of The Same Sex
NBA – National Basketball Association
NFL – National Football League
NHL – National Hockey League
PGA – Professional Golfer’s Association
SPCA – Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals
SO - Significant Other
SWF – Single White Female
SWM – Single White Male
WWE – World Wrestling Entertainment