134 Best texting acronyms to use in business

Do you often find your coworkers MIA even though they said they’ll BRB? 

Are you AATK, or more AAK?

Do you often use texting acronyms in business communication, or do you afraid it might be considered NSFW? 

If you’re not sure whether, or how, to use texting acronyms in business, we’ve got you covered. 

In this blog post, we will:

• Define texting acronyms,
• Explain the main reasons you should implement acronyms in your business communication,
• List out the acronyms most commonly used in business communication,  
• Give examples of how texting acronyms can be used in different situations in business, and 
• Provide etiquette rules to follow when using texting acronyms in business.

What are texting acronyms?

A texting acronym is a shortened version of a word or a phrase, used predominantly in texting to save time and grab the shortened attention span of the reader. 

The origin story of texting acronyms can be traced back to the early days of texting. Back then, keyboards required multiple taps to write one letter, so users had to be creative to speed up the process of texting. 

Nowadays, texting acronyms are used in almost all forms of written communication, mostly for the purpose of saving time. 

In the case of social media posting, for example, acronyms are used for relevance — but also to keep your posts within a certain character limit. 

Although commonly used interchangeably, texting abbreviations and acronyms have one distinct difference — their form. 

Abbreviations are shortened forms of words (e.g. Prof.), usually consisting of the first few letters of the word. 

Acronyms, on the other hand, are words created using the first letters of the words in a phrase (e.g. USA)  

Why you should use texting acronyms in business

Although they often may seem confusing, misspelled, and grammatically incorrect, texting acronyms and abbreviations — or even emojis — have almost become commonplace in today’s business communication. 

In business, texting acronyms are most often associated with marketing, when brands adjust their messaging to appeal more to their target audience. 

However, we can find texting acronyms and abbreviations in almost any form of written business correspondence, including:

• Conversations in team chat apps
• Emails
• Presentations
• Promotional material
• Social media posts

Although most commonly cited, the time-saving factor is not the only reason professionals use texting acronyms in business communication. 

Teams and organizations may also use acronyms and abbreviations in their internal communication — to connect and communicate in a more meaningful and less formal way. 

And what acronyms should you use for these purposes? 

Let’s find out.

Best texting acronyms to use in business situations

Here’s a list of acronyms you can safely use in different situations in your business communication, categorized by context:

• Common SFW (safe for work) texting acronyms
• General business texting acronyms 
• Marketing texting acronyms 
• IT acronyms commonly used in business

Common SFW (safe for work) texting acronyms  

Common SFW (i.e. safe for work) texting acronyms include the following acronyms.  

	Acronym	Meaning	Used when…
1.	ALOL	Actually laughing out loud	Something is actually funny
2.	ADN	Any day now	You want to be vague in your status updates
3.	BTW	By the way	You want to gracefully change the subject of conversation
4.	B4	Before	You’re too lazy to type ‘before’
5.	FOMO	Fear of missing out	You’re late to the office party
6.	FOTO	Fear of the office	You don’t want to go to the office party
7.	FTFY	Fixed that for you	Your coworker asks for a favor and you deliver
8.	GR8	Great	You want to praise a coworker for a job well done
9.	HBU	How about you?	You’re catching up with your work bestie
10.	HF	Have fun	Your coworker goes on vacation
11.	IDK	I don’t know	You can’t decide what to order for lunch
12.	IMO	In my opinion	You want to respect your coworkers’ feelings when giving feedback
13.	IRL	In real life	You’re planning to meet with your teammates in person
14.	JK	Just kidding	You send a risky meme in your team chat
15.	K	Okay	You want to agree or acknowledge someone’s opinion, and end the conversation
16.	L8R	Later	You’re muting your team chat to focus on your work
17.	LMK	Let me know	You’re asking for feedback
18.	LOL	Laughing out loud	Something is not necessarily funny, but you want to be nice
19.	NVM	Nevermind	You’ve found the solution yourself after asking your coworkers for help
20.	PLS/PLZ	Please	You beg your work bestie to go to the company workshop with you
21.	POV	Point of view	You want to appear relatable in your social media posts
22.	RN	Right now	You want to update your team on your progress or state in real-time
23.	RT	Roger that	Your boss gives you a long list of tasks they want you to do
24.	TGIF	Thank god it’s Friday	It’s been a long week
25.	TL;DR	Too long didn’t read	You write a 200-word DM and realize no one is going to read it in full
26.	TMI	Too much information	You overshared in a team chat
27.	TMRW	Tomorrow	You’re putting off a task you hate
28.	W/O	Without	You can’t type ‘without’
29.	W8	Wait	You’re busy but you also want to reply to a DM
30.	YT	You there?	It’s clear they’re not there

General business texting acronyms

General business texting acronyms include the following acronyms.

	Acronym	Meaning
31.	A/N	Author’s note
32.	AA	As above
33.	AA	Ask about
34.	AAK	Asleep at keyboard
35.	AAMOF	As a matter of fact
36.	AAMOI	As a matter of interest
37.	AAP	Always a pleasure
38.	AAR	At any rate
39.	AATK	Always at the keyboard
40.	AC	Acceptable content
41.	ADAD	Another day, another dollar
42.	ADD	Address
43.	AEAP	As early as possible
44.	AFK	Away from keyboard
45.	AKA	Also known as
46.	ASAP	As soon as possible
47.	ATB	All the best
48.	ATM	At the moment
49.	AYEC	At your earliest convenience
50.	AYT	Are you there?
51.	B2B	Business-to-business
52.	B2C	Business-to-consumer
53.	B2W	Back to work
54.	B	Back
55.	BAK	Back at keyboard
56.	BAU	Business as usual
57.	BFAW	Best friend at work
58.	BIF	Before I forget
59.	BOGO	Buy one get one (free)
60.	BRB	Be right back
61.	BRT	Be right there
62.	BYOC	Bring your own computer
63.	BYOD	Bring your own device
64.	C2C	Customer to customer
65.	COB	Close of business
66.	DIY	Do it yourself
67.	DM	Direct message
68.	DND	Do not disturb
69.	EOD	End of day
70.	ETA	Estimated time of arrival
71.	F2F	Face to face
72.	FW	Forward
73.	FYI	For your information
74.	ICYMI	In case you missed it
75.	IIRC	If I recall correctly
76.	IM	Instant message
77.	JIC	Just in case
78.	KOL	Key opinion leader
79.	KPI	Key performance indicator
80.	MGMT	Management
81.	MSG	Message
82.	MMS	Multimedia messaging service
83.	N/A	Not applicable or not available
84.	NP	No problem
85.	NSFW	Not safe/suitable for work
86.	OOO	Out of office
87.	PIN	Personal identification number
88.	PSA	Public service announcement
89.	PTO	Personal/Paid time off
90.	QC	Quality control
91.	RFP	Request for proposal
92.	ROI	Return on investment
93.	SMB	Small to midsize business
94.	SME	Subject matter expert
95.	SMS	Short message service (text message)
96.	T&C	Terms and conditions
97.	TBA	To be announced
98.	TBD	To be determined
99.	TBH	To be honest
100.	TYT	Take your time
101.	VAT	Value added tax
102.	VIP	Very important person
103.	WDYM	What do you mean
104.	WFH	Work from home
105.	WIP	Work in progress

Marketing texting acronyms

 Marketing texting acronyms include the following acronyms. 

	Acronym	Meaning
106.	CMS	Content management system
107.	CPC	Cost per click
108.	CPM	Cost per mile (thousand)
109.	CR	Conversion rate
110.	CTA	Call to action
111.	CTR	Click-through rate
112.	CX	Customer experience
113.	FAQ	Frequently asked questions
114.	FB	Facebook
115.	IG	Instagram
116.	LI	LinkedIn
117.	MLM	Multi-level marketing
118.	QOTD	Quote of the day
119.	SEM	Search engine marketing
120.	SEO	Search engine optimization
121.	SERP	Search engine results page
122.	SMM	Social media marketing
123.	SMO	Social media optimization
124.	UGC	User-generated content
125.	UI	User interface
125.	UX	User experience
127.	YT	YouTube

IT acronyms commonly used in business 

IT acronyms commonly used in business include the following acronyms.

	Acronym	Meaning
128.	RSS	Rich site summary
129.	SaaS	Software as a service
130.	VoIP	Voice over Internet protocol
131.	HTML	Hypertext markup language
132.	P2P	Peer-to-peer
133.	PKI	Public key infrastructure
134.	URL	Uniform resource locator

How to use texting acronyms in business — text acronyms examples

Although texting acronyms have become common in business communication, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should use them in all situations and to any extent. 

There are some instances where it might still be more appropriate to use the original forms of words and phrases. 

At the same time, certain communication situations and formats almost require using acronyms. 

For example, you can hardly imagine a social media post or team conversations in team chat apps, for example, without an acronym or two. 

Here are some examples of how texting acronyms can fit naturally in your business writing to help you better understand texting acronym etiquette in business communication.  

Text acronyms examples for team chat app conversations

In most cases, your team chats fall into the category of semi-formal communication. 

You don’t necessarily need to lose all inhibitions and make inappropriate jokes in your team chat threads. 

However, a few tasteful acronyms here and there are almost necessary for those moments when you want to loosen up and build more authentic relationships with your coworkers. 

Acronyms and abbreviations fit into these chats perfectly for several reasons:

• They allow for less formal communication between teammates. 
• They facilitate faster and more efficient communication which speeds up decision-making and problem-solving in a team.
• They help teammates build better relationships by communicating in a more natural way.

Here’s an example of a person using an acronym to explain their absence to their team quickly. 

Marie wants to let their team know they will be away for a few short minutes, in case anyone needs them during that period. Instead of using the complete sentence to explain they will be right back, Marie uses a commonly used acronym:  

Text acronyms examples for social media posts 

Whether you want to appeal to your audience or simply need to keep your post within a certain character limit, you’ll use acronyms in your social media posts. 

From TB (throwback) posts and hashtags to FOMO and WFH relatable videos, there are plenty of ways businesses use acronyms in their social media strategy. 

This is an example of how acronyms can be used in a LinkedIn post.

Text acronyms examples for customer service chats

Being on the front lines of problem-solving, customer support teams use acronyms and abbreviations in their communication with customers to both ensure faster response times and achieve a more natural tone of voice. 

Here is an example of a message from a customer service chat: 

Text acronyms examples for out-of-office emails

While you may not want to go overboard with lesser-known acronyms in official emails, you can be more creative and fun in your out-of-office messages. 

Here’s an example of an out-of-office autoresponder message containing two widely used and easy-to-decode acronyms: 

Hello, and thanks for your email. 
I’m currently OOO until September W/O access to email. 
If your request is urgent, please contact Jane Smith at janesmith@mail.com
I’ll be sure to get back to you when I return in September.

Best.

Text acronyms examples for promotional emails/SMS texts

Promotional SMS texts and emails pioneered acronym usage decades ago. 

Brands and businesses wanting to make their messaging more relatable turn to popular texting acronyms and abbreviations used by their target audience. 

Here’s an example of how brands can incorporate acronyms in their promotional emails and SMS texts: 

ICYMI, our summer sale has been extended until the end of August! 
Hurry up and grab your favorite items for up to 60% off. 

Business texting acronyms DOs and DON’Ts

Now that we have a better understanding of the best texting acronyms to use in business, let’s go over some of the most important tips on how to use texting abbreviations and acronyms in business. 

And also, how NOT to use them.

DO Mind your audience 

Whether you’re preparing a marketing strategy for a beauty brand with a casual brand voice or writing a formal project proposal, your first step is understanding your audience — i.e. the people  your writing addresses. 

As acronyms and abbreviations are mostly considered informal or semi-formal, you’d want to pay attention to the type and volume of acronyms you use, depending on the type of written message and the audience you’re addressing. 

For example, if you’re writing an email to a senior partner at your company, you may want to lose the acronyms altogether. Or, stick to the well-known unambiguous acronyms frequently used in business communication — to make sure you’re not sending the wrong message and making the wrong impression.

At the same time, acronyms are almost mandatory if you’re writing a caption for a TikTok video, for instance. The audience on TikTok and social media, in general, is more familiar with popular abbreviations and acronyms, which makes your messaging more relevant and relatable. 

Lecturer of Marketing at Coastal Carolina University, Matthew A. Gilbert, highlights context and audience as key factors when using texting acronyms in business:

DON’T overuse acronyms

When you want to incorporate texting acronyms into your business writing, be sure not to overdo it. 

Texting acronyms, like industry jargon, should be used sparingly — unless you want to completely confuse and alienate your audience or recipients of your messages. 

Regardless of who your target audience may be, it may get confusing for the recipient to decipher your messages if every other word is an acronym or abbreviation. Especially if you use too many niche and uncommon acronyms. 

To ensure you stay on the safe side, try to limit your acronyms to one or two generally accepted and familiar acronyms per message. That way, you can achieve your goal without overwhelming your readers and recipients. 

DO stay professional

Whether you’re chatting with your favorite coworkers in a private channel in your team chat app or writing a formal press release, you need to keep it professional. 

A good rule of thumb when using acronyms in professional communications is to stick to the familiar and well-known ones — to make sure you’re keeping it safe and business appropriate. 

If you’re not sure the acronym or abbreviation has another meaning, it’s better not to use it altogether than to risk coming across as offensive or unprofessional. 

Associate Director of Communications at SUNY Oneonta, Kimberly (Sarles) MacLeod, APR, shares a similar opinion. She points out the importance of keeping all of your work messages professional:

DON’T follow trends blindly 

People often want to appear cool and edgy so they try to incorporate the latest trendy acronyms in all of their messages. 

This may sound like a great idea if you’re a social media manager, looking to get some quick, temporary wins. 

In reality, these types of messages achieve the opposite effect in most cases. Popular acronyms and abbreviations quickly go out of style, and you risk sounding like a try-hard — and even unprofessional and offensive if you accidentally step into slang. 

Moreover, trends are inherently subjective, which makes it even more difficult to get them right every time — especially if you don’t know your audience like the back of your hand. 

Instead, it’s more reasonable to stick to the standard unambiguous acronyms and abbreviations commonly used in business communication — to ensure you’re always getting the right message across to your audience. 

DO mind the spelling

One of the common risks of using acronyms is that it’s so easy to make a tiny typo and get an entirely different meaning than what you originally intended. 

Just as an example, it would probably create a lot of confusion if you accidentally type COD (cash on delivery), instead of COB (close of business). 

Make sure to always double-check before hitting “send” — to avoid awkward misunderstandings. 

DON’T abbreviate words of appreciation 

Kindness, common courtesy, and gratitude shouldn’t be abbreviated. TY just doesn’t come across as sincere as ‘Thank you’. 

No matter how strapped for time you may be, take an additional minute to express your appreciation and gratitude appropriately. 

Why?

Well, expressing gratitude the right way is a small gesture that goes a long way in terms of strengthening customer relationships or building better team relationships. 

Wrapping up: Keep your acronyms under control 

Using texting acronyms in business can be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, acronyms and abbreviations can be handy instruments for efficient communication with peers and powerful tools in marketing messaging.
At the same time, if you’re not careful about the audience and contextual fit, you might end up with terrible consequences to your brand and personal reputation. 

Remember to use standard acronyms and abbreviations in moderation, and, when in doubt — just go with the original version of the word or a phrase. 

✉️ What about you? Do you use texting acronyms in your professional communication? Did we miss any commonly used acronyms? Let us know at blogfeedback@pumble.com and we may include your answers in this or one of our future posts.