By Divya Munjal

Have you ever received an email from your supervisor or a senior asking you to finish a task by COB or EOD? If you feel lost or anxious on seeing these acronyms, you are not alone.

Not knowing corporate acronyms can lead to unforeseen consequences, such as missed deadlines. To avoid such situations, let us learn some corporate acronyms and be a better communicator.

Deadline-oriented acronyms

Here are some deadline-oriented acronyms and their expanded forms:

1. EOB: End of business
2. COB: Close of business
3. EOD: End of day
4. COD: Close of day
5. EOP: End of play
6. COP: Close of play

All these acronyms mean the same and can be used one for the other while referring to the day-end deadlines. All these deadlines are applicable on any business day.

Are you not sure about the meaning of a business day? Well… A business day is any day from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm as per the local time. If someone asks you to complete a certain task by the close of a business day, then he means that the task needs to be completed by 5:00 pm on that day. However, there is a catch. Even if a company runs 24-hour operations, the use of these acronyms still implies that the task needs to be completed by 5:00 pm on that day.

Here are some examples:

Would it be possible for you to provide us the sample by EOB tomorrow?

(Here, the task needs to be completed by 5:00 pm tomorrow.)

We will look forward to receive the final designs by EOB on 25 October.

(Here, the task needs to be completed by 5:00 pm on 25 October.)

This task is little urgent. Could you please complete it by EOB?

(Here, the task needs to be completed by 5:00 today.)

In all these and other similar situations, all the above acronyms (i.e. COB, EOD, COD, EOP and COP) will fit well in place of “EOB”. Now, it is up to us to decide which acronym we prefer to use.

Acronyms used in the subject lines of emails

Apart from the acronyms related to the length of a business day, there are some more acronyms that are often used in the subject line of emails. Let’s take a look at some of them:

1. EOM: End of message

This acronym implies that the complete email is included in the subject line. The body of the email will be empty if we use EOM.

Examples:

Urgent action needed on the email sent yesterday: EOM

Elevator not working today, so use stairs: EOM

Share the completion plan: EOM

Prefixes and suffixes used in email subject lines

Learning a handful of subject line prefixes and suffixes can make our emails more informative. Let us try to understand some terms and their use.

1. FYI: For Your Information

The use of “FYI” in the email indicates that the message is just for information of the receiver and no reply or action is needed at their end. It is usually a short message.

Example:

FYI: Free gift vouchers on my desk

2. URGENT: This is the message

The prefix “Urgent” should be used in the subject line only if something is truly urgent and for which we want a quick action/response. The mention of “Urgent” will prompt the receiver of the email for a quick action.

Example:

URGENT: Final reminder to fill the tax returns

URGENT: Final reminder to submit investment proofs

3. NRN: No Reply Needed

NRN indicates that the receiver of the email does not need to respond to the email. This acronym is used to share general company or process updates. It is likely that there will be a message in the body of the email, but no response is needed.

Example:

Mom wants you to call her back: NRN

4. NFA: No Further Action

NFA can be used as a combination of FYI and NRN. It means that the email is for your information only and no further action or reply is needed.

Example:

“Change in plan: Mr. Bahuguna arriving at 11 am, not 10 am NFA”

Conclusion

As we have learnt some of corporate email acronyms, prefixes and suffixes, we should start using these terms in our email communication. The use of these terms in our emails will make us an effective communicator.

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