Acceptable Acronym Use
From How to Write Email That GETS RESULTS & Other CEObservations
An email is not a text message, it’s not an instant message and it’s not a license plate. It’s a letter, a legitimate correspondence between two presumably intelligent people who wish to share a life experience, thought, emotion or business pursuit. It is not a pool of puke from someone who overstuffed themselves with alphabet soup.
There are very few acceptable acronyms that you should include in a business email. After all, you have a level of professionalism to maintain. Save the rest of those capital letters for your garbage-filled instant messages and text messages about the daily chores and the fact that you’re getting up from a seat and may not respond to someone within two seconds of receiving a message.
These approved acronyms should be used with care, with emphasis, and with purpose, when you need someone to visualize in their mind what you’re saying because you know they’ve zoned out the words themselves by now.
LOL – Laughing out loud (LMFAO is not acceptable as it implies too much happiness)
OMG – Oh my gosh. (“Oh my God” if you’re already going to Hell)
BTW – By the way
FYI – For your information
TTYL – Talk to you later
G2KU – I’m going to kill you.
?UW4 – Who do you work for?
^^ – Read the subject/previous line
* – Ass hole
i-r – You fucked me in the ass
It is possible for you to use any combination(s) of these approved acronyms in one email, and I believe technically the last three are emoticons, which is already approved standard email protocol.
From: Richard Hlava, CEO, HlavCo Intl.
To: Nephew, Underling Supervisor, Legal Nazi
CC: Nitwit CFO, Underling Supervisor’s Supervisor, Useless HR Head, Lazy Marketing Director, Main Douchebag, Sales Manager, Legal Fuehrer, King Sap, Giant Scrub
Subject: ? i-r
FYI, i-r *
OMG i-r
BTW, ?UW4
G2KU LOL
^^
TTYL
..!.,
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