This is a list of abbreviations which are less commonly used in the subject of an English
email header: •
AEAP, meaning As Early As Possible. •
ASAP, meaning As Soon As Possible. •
AB, meaning Action By. Used with a time indicator to inform the recipient that the sender needs a task to be completed within a certain deadline, e.g. AB+2 meaning Action By 2 days. •
AR, meaning Action Required. The recipient is informed that they are being given a task. •
BLUF, meaning Bottom Line Up Front. A brief synopsis of key information typically used for higher level management communication. •
CFI, meaning Copied For Information •
COB, meaning Close Of Business (end of work day). Implying that something should happen by the end of the typical work shift. •
COP or
EOP, meaning
Close Of Play / End Of Play. British sporting term referring to an overnight, intra-game, break during a
cricket match which is scheduled to take place over multiple days. Also used in a similar context at
The Championships. •
CTA, meaning
Call to Action. Instruction to the receiver designed to provoke an immediate response. •
CWC, change in working conditions •
EOD, meaning End Of Day •
FYA, meaning
For Your Action. The recipient is informed that they are being given a task. Can also mean For Your Attention, For Your Approval, For Your Assistance, For Your Awareness, For Your Authorization, or For Your Acknowledgement. •
FAO, meaning "For the Attention Of", especially in email or written correspondence. This can be used to direct an email towards an individual when an email is being sent to a team email address or to a specific department in a company. e.g. FAO: Jo Smith, Finance Department. •
FYI or
Fyi: , "
for your information". The recipient is informed that they do not have to reply to this email. •
FYSA, meaning For Your Situational Awareness. The recipient is informed that this information may be important context for other communications but contains no action required. Similar to FYI but used heavily in U.S. government and military email correspondence. (Not to be confused with
FISA.) •
FYFG, meaning For Your Future Guidance. Also written as Fyfg. Used at the beginning of the subject, typically in corporate emails in which management wants to inform personnel about a new procedure they should follow. •
FYG, meaning For Your Guidance. Also written as Fyg. Used at the beginning of the subject, typically in corporate emails in which management wants to inform personnel about a new procedure they should follow. •
FYR, meaning For Your Reference. This is typically used in email subjects to send follow-up information about something the recipients already know. •
I, meaning Information. Used at the beginning of the subject. The recipient is informed that they do not have to reply to this email. May be more commonly used in Europe than in North America, where
FYI may be preferred. •
LET, meaning Leaving Early Today. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the sender will be leaving the office early that day. •
LF, meaning Looking For something. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the sender is looking for that particular thing. •
LSFW, meaning
Less Safe For Work. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the content may be sexually explicit or profane, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
MIA, meaning
Missing In Action. Used when original email has been lost in the work process. •
NIM, meaning
No Internal Message. Used when the entire content of the email is contained in the subject and the body remains empty. This saves the recipient's time because they then do not have to open the email. •
NLS, meaning
Not Life-Safe. Used to indicate that the content may be shocking or grotesque, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
NM, meaning No Message. Also written as N/M, n/m, or *n/m*. Used when the entire content of the email is contained in the subject and the body remains empty. This saves the recipient's time because they then do not have to open the email. •
NB, meaning Note Well. Abbreviation of Latin nota bene. Used before a piece of important information to make readers notice it. •
NMP, meaning Not My Problem. Used in a reply to indicate that the previous email has been ignored. •
NMS, meaning
Not Mind-Safe. Used to indicate that the content may be shocking or grotesque, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
NNTO, meaning
No Need To Open. The recipient is informed that they do not need to open the email; necessary information is in the Subject line. •
NNTR, meaning No Need To Respond. The recipient is informed that they do not have to reply to this email. •
NRN, meaning
No Reply Necessary or No Reply Needed. The recipient is informed that they do not have to reply to this email. •
NRR, meaning No Reply Requested or No Reply Required. The recipient is informed that they do not have to reply to this email. •
NSFW, meaning
Not Safe For Work or Not Suitable For Work. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the content may be sexually explicit or profane, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
NSS, meaning
Not School-Safe or Not School-Suitable. Used in school network emails to indicate that the content may be sexually explicit or profane, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
NT, meaning No Text. Also written as N/T or n/t. Used when the entire content of the email is contained in the subject and the body remains empty. This saves the recipient's time because they then do not have to open the email. •
NWR, meaning Not Work Related. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the content is not related to business and therefore that the recipient can ignore it if desired. •
NWS, meaning
Not Work-Safe or Not Work-Suitable. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the content may be sexually explicit or profane, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
NYR, meaning
Need Your Response. Meaning requires a response. •
NYRT, meaning
Need Your Response Today. Meaning requires a response this working day. •
NYRQ, meaning
Need Your Response Quick. Meaning requires an immediate response. •
NYR-NBD, meaning
Need Your Response - Next Business Day. Meaning requires a response before the end of the next working day. •
OoO, meaning Out of Office. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the sender will not be at work. •
PFA, meaning Please Find Attached / Attachment. Used in corporate emails to indicate that a document or set of documents is attached for the reference. •
PNFO, meaning
Probably Not For the Office. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the content may be sexually explicit or profane, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
PNSFW, meaning
Probably Not Safe For Work or Possibly Not Safe For Work. Used in corporate emails to indicate that the content may be sexually explicit or profane, helping the recipient to avoid potentially objectionable material. •
PYR, meaning Per Your Request. The recipient is informed that the sender is replying to a previous email in which they were given a task. •
QUE, meaning Question. The recipient is informed that the sender wants an answer to this e-mail. •
RB, meaning Reply By. Used with a time indicator to inform the recipient that the sender needs a reply within a certain deadline, e.g. RB+7 meaning Reply By one week (7 days). •
RLB, meaning
Read later. Used when sending personal or informational email to a business email address. Immediate response not required. •
RR, meaning
Reply Requested or Reply Required. The recipient is informed that they should reply to this email. •
RSVP, meaning
Reply Requested, please, from the French
Répondez s'il vous plaît. The recipient is informed that they should reply to this email. Often used for replies (accept/decline) to invitations. •
SFW, meaning
Safe For Work. Used in corporate emails to indicate that although the subject or content may look as if it is sexually explicit or profane, it is in fact not. •
SIM, meaning Subject Is Message. Used when the entire content of the email is contained in the subject and the body remains empty. This saves the recipient's time because they then do not have to open the email. •
SSIA, meaning
Subject Says It All. Used when the entire content of the email is contained in the subject and the body remains empty. This saves the recipient's time because they then do not have to open the email. A
[1] at the start of the subject line, meaning "one-liner", means the same. Also
EOM, above. •
TLTR, meaning
Too Long to read. Used in some corporate emails to request that the email sender re-writes the email body shorter •
TBF, meaning (1)
To be Forwarded. Used in some corporate emails to request that the email receiver should forward the mail to someone else. It also has the more common meaning (2)
To be Frank/Fair. Usually only used in the email body. •
TSFW, meaning Technically Safe For Work or Totally Safe For Work. Used in corporate emails to indicate that although the subject or content may look as if it is sexually explicit or profane, it is in fact not. •
Y/N, meaning Yes/No. The recipient is informed that they should reply to this email with a simple yes or no answer, increasing the likelihood for the sender of getting a quick response. •
VSRE, meaning Very Short Reply Expected. •
UDA, meaning Urgent Document Attached == Abbreviations in other languages ==