This week, as I was setting up swimming lessons with my son’s coach via email, I typed “ttys” and hit “send.” A few hours later, I received a reply with details of when and where the lessons would take place, followed by a question: “What does ttys mean?”
I was temporarily stunned that someone could possibly not know what such a common acronym meant – Talk to you soon!
I am so used to living in a world of acronyms and shortcuts on social media that it never occurred to me that others might not use acronyms quite so readily.
But then, once I started thinking about it.
I realized that acronyms are not just for social media.
We are seeing more and more business-related acronyms all the time…and quite often I find myself scratching my head wondering, “What does ___ stand for??” When it comes down to it, there are hundreds of acronyms that are commonly typed to save a few seconds here and there and it is inevitable that some are bound to stump us.
So, without further ado, here is a list I compiled of some common acronyms that we encounter regularly.
Happy Decoding!
Business Acronyms
B2B – Companies that are selling to other companies – or “business to business.”
B2C – Companies that are selling directly to individuals – or “business to consumer.”
ROI – “Return on Investment” measures the benefit to the business derived from a specific investment. And a tip from us, ROI does not have to be just dollars and cents, learn more in the article “How Do You Measure Technology ROI?”
SEO – “Search Engine Optimization” refers to how well a company’s online written content is ranked on popular search engines.
BYOD – “Bring Your Own Device” is a policy that is becoming increasingly popular among organizations, allowing company employees to use their personal devices (phones, computers, etc) for business purposes.
Data Collection Acronyms
RFID – “Radio Frequency Identification” is the wireless transmission of data, using electromagnetic waves, for the purpose of automatically tracking tags attached to objects. Click to learn more about RFID here.
AIDC – Commonly refers to the “Automatic Identification and Data Capture” industry as a whole. Learn more common AIDC Terms in an [Infographic] here.
CPI – “Characters Per Inch” is a term that measures barcode density.
DPM – “Direct Part Marking” refers to barcodes (usually 2D Data Matrix codes) that have been permanently imprinted or etched onto a part.
EAN – The International Article Number (previously known as the European Article Number) is a 13-digit barcode that is required on products that are not already labelled with a UPC.
UPC – “Universal Product Code” is the standard barcode symbol used to mark and track products in the U.S. retail industry.
*Create your own UPC & EAN barcodes here (but make sure you change the barcode type!).
mPOS – “Mobile Point of Sale” is a retail term that refers to taking the components of your stationary POS system or Cash Wrap and putting it in the hands of your employees – literally.
And just for fun…
Social Media/Texting Acronyms
BTW – By the way
IDK – I don’t know
IMO/IMHO – In my opinion/In my humble opinion
LMK – Let me know
JK – Just kidding
NBD – No big deal
SMH – Shaking my head
TTYL/TTYS – Talk to you later/Talk to you soon
YOLO – You only live once
Are there other acronyms that you’re wondering about? Let us know on Twitter and we’ll try to help you decode them.
Also…stay tuned for my upcoming blog on decoding industrial acronyms!
About the Author:
Carmella Giancursio is L-Tron’s Public Relations Specialist & Content Editor. When she’s not working, spending time with her husband, or taking care of her 3 young kids, she can be found in the kitchen, channeling her Italian heritage! Email info@L-Tron.com with questions, or call us at (800) 830-9523.