ENGLISH BUSINESS VOCABULARY
Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations used in Business
Words formed by the first letters of the words in a phrase.
Acronyms are the first letters of the words in a phrase that are pronounced as a word.
Example:
UNESCO for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
Example:
UNESCO for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
Initialisms are formed in the same way as acronyms, but they do not form pronounceable words so they are pronounced as strings of letters.
Example:
CIA for « Central
Intelligence Agency »
Abbreviations are shortened forms of words that are pronounced like the full word.
Example:
Mr for 'Mister' and cm for 'centimetre' .
COMMON ACRONYMS, INITIALISMS and ABBREVIATIONS USED IN BUSINESS |
||
| MEANING | EXAMPLE | |
| AGM | Annual General Meetiing | "Last year's activities and accounts will be discussed at the AGM." |
| B2B | Business to business (sells things to other businesses) |
"Here's an interesting article on B2B commerce." |
| B2C | Business to consumer (sells things to the general public) |
"We are thinking of re-entering the B2C market." |
| CEO | Chief Executive Officer (most important job in a company) |
"Mr. Brown reports directly to the CEO." |
| CFO | Chief Financial Officer (in charge of the company's finances) |
"The CFO is attending a meeting on cost reduction." |
| CPA | Certified public accountant (qualified accountant) |
"A CPA deals with our income tax returns." |
| CTO | Chief technology officer (in charge of computer systems) |
"The town's CTO declared that all schools would have new computer systems next year." |
| COB/EOB | Close of business / End of business | "I need an estimate by tomorrow COB." (or EOB) |
| COD | Cash on delivery | "You don't have to pay now - it's COD." |
| HR | Human Resources | "All applications should be sent to the HR department." |
| HQ | Headquarters (head office) | "The HQ of the company are in New York." |
| IT | Information Technology | "Contact the IT department for assistance with computers." |
| N/A | Non-applicable | "The information requested does not apply." |
| NDA | Non-disclosure agreement (agree not to reveal information) |
"All those present will be asked to sign an NDA." |
| OT | Overtime (working extra hours) |
"No OT will be approved this month." |
| PR | Public relations | "The PR department is planning a press conference." |
| ROI | Return on investment | "Investors always hope for a high ROI." |
| RSVP | Repondez s'il vous plait | "RSVP to Julie before the end of the month." |
| TBA | To be announced | "Details of the agreement are TBA." |
| TBD | To be determined | "An appropriate course of action is TBD." |
| WTO | World Trade Organization | "All members of the WTO must apply the rules." |
| VAT | Value added tax | "It costs 1500€, VAT included." |
| YTD | Year to date | "What are our YTD sales figures?" |