Short forms in business communication

Below are some frequently used short forms in business communication like e-mails, faxes and letters:


a.k.a. - also known as

approx. - approximately

ASAP - as soon as possible

Attn. - for the attention of

eg; Her boss replied, "Just write 'Attn: Ms. Christine Jalleh'. She'll know what to do with it."


Bcc. - blind carbon copy or blind copy to. In this case, the carbon copy is sent to an e-mail recipient whose e-mail address is not visible to the cc or other bcc recipients.

Cc. - carbon copy, or copy to

c/o - in care of, used when sending a document to A who will receive it on B's behalf because B is away from the office.

COD - cash on delivery, where a person makes payment for an item purchase after it has been delivered.

e.g. - exempli gratia (for example)

et al. - et alii (and others). Usually used to list co-authors after the lead author in a bibliography, this form is now popularly used to address the other people other than the recipient in e-mails.

eg; She received a new e-mail, which read, "Dear Pee Jay et al., I was reminded that the boss does NOT like surprises ..."

etc. - et cetera (and so on OR and so forth)

exc. - except

FYI - for your information

FYA - for your action

eg; "Note that some of these e-mails are FYA ..."

i.e. - id est (that is)

K - thousand, e.g. 450K = 450,000

PA - personal assistant

p.a. - per annum (per year)

p.p. - per pro (used when signing a document on someone's behalf)

Pto. - please turn over, used at the end of a page to indicate that there is a continuity to the text.

viz. - videlicet, namely