Common English abbreviations used in emails

Electronic Mail or e-mail is the exchange of messages between people by telecommunication. Ray Tomlinson invented the first email system in 1971. Some early email systems required the author and the recipient to both be online at the same time, in common with instant messaging. Today’s email systems are based on a store-and-forward model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver, and store messages.The symbol “@” is read as “at”, it is also called the “at symbol” or “commercial at”.

Here are some common English abbreviations which used in the email subjects.

Standard prefixes
These prefixes are usually automatically inserted by the email client.

RE: or “Re:” followed by the subject line of a previous message indicates a reply to that message.
FW: a forwarded message. Also written as “FWD: “, “Fwd: ” or “Fw: “. The recipient is informed that the email was originally sent to someone else, and that person has in turn forwarded a copy of the email to him or her.

Non-standard prefixes
These words are inserted in the middle of or at the end of the subject, usually by hand.

WAS: the subject was changed. Not an abbreviation, but the word “was” (past tense of “be”). Also written as “Was: ” and “was: “. It indicates that the subject has changed since the previous email, e.g., “Do you know a good babysitter? (WAS: What should we do this weekend?)”.
OT: off topic. Used within an email thread to indicate that this particular reply is about a different topic than the rest of the thread.
EOM: end of message. Also written as “Eom” or “eom”. Used at the end of the subject 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 message.
WFH: Working from Home. Used in the subject line or body of the email.
1L: One Liner. Used at the beginning of the subject when the subject of the email is the only text contained in the email. This prefix indicates to the reader that it is not necessary to open the email. E.g., “1L: WFH today”
NONB: Non-business. Used at the beginning of the subject when the subject of the email is not related to business. This prefix indicates to the reader that the email is not about a work related or endorsed topic.

Other English abbreviations

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 she is being given a task.
FYA, meaning For Your Action. The recipient is informed that she is being given a task. Can also mean For Your Amusement, For Your Attention, For Your Approval, For Your Assistance, For Your Awareness, For Your Authorization, or For Your Acknowledgement.
FYI: “for your information”. Also written as “Fyi: “. The recipient is informed that he does not have to reply to this email.
FYIP, meaning For Your Information Please. The recipient is informed about the content in email with respect/Amiable sense.
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.
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 he does 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.
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.
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 she then does 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 she then does 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 he/she does not need to open the email; necessary information is in the Subject line.
NNTR, meaning No Need To Respond. The recipient is informed that he does not have to reply to this email.
NRN, meaning No Reply Necessary or No Reply Needed. The recipient is informed that he does not have to reply to this email.
NRR, meaning No Reply Requested or No Reply Required. The recipient is informed that he does 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.[3]
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 she then does not have to open the email. Recipients therefore should not be surprised by what appears to be missing content, or that some malware might be involved, or that the email utility of the sender or themselves is misbehaving. It encourages Twitter-like conciseness, and reflects that when smart-phones are used for email, it can be difficult to do text entry.
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 the 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 she was 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 he should reply to this email.
RSVP, meaning Reply Requested, please, from the French Répondez s’il vous plaît. The recipient is informed that he 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 she then does 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 she then does not have to open the email. A 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 To be Forwarded. Used in some corporate emails to request that the email receiver should forward the mail to some one else. It also has the more common meaning To be Frank/Fair. Usually only used in the email body.
Y/N, meaning Yes/No. The recipient is informed that he should reply to this email with a simple yes or no answer, increasing the likelihood for the sender of getting a quick response. cf. VSRE, meaning Very Short Reply Expected.