Business English/Idioms
Business Acronyms edit
ASAP : As Soon As Possible
COB : Close Of Business
COP : Close Of Play
EOD. : End Of Day
PO : Purchase Order
GR : Goods Receipt
IR : Invoice Receipt
R/E : Rate of Exchange (also called FX exchange)
TOR : Terms of Reference
P/C : Price, Current
O/S : Out of Stock, differs from...
OS : ...On Sample
EBIT : Earnings Before Interests and Taxes; Shows the result of the company before Interest expenditures and Income Taxes. It differs from...
EBITDA : Earnings Before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization; ...that gives a more precise idea of final result (earnings or loss). It takes into account these two aspects of business in addition.
BOY : Beginning Of the Year; Generally January, but in any case is considered the beginning of the financial year (for statements purpose).
EOY : End Of the Year; Generally December, but in any case is considered the end of the financial year (for statements purpose).
SOP : Standard Operating Procedures
YTD : Year To Date; term generally used to indicate all the expenses a firm incurred in during a year (P&L)
WIP : Work In Progress; Especially used for assets under construction.
Company Departments - Functional Areas
MKT : Marketing R&D : Research and Development H&S : Health and Security M&R : Maintenance and Repair HR : Human Resources IT : Information Technology AR : Account Receivable
SG&A : Selling, General & Administrative (regroups many depts. generally excluding manufacturing only, or manuf. + R&D)
Common English idioms edit
Black Tie - Not a true idiom; however, it can be misleading. It does not mean 'Wear a black tie', but rather a 'DJ' or dinner jacket and bow tie (alternatively a tuxedo)
e.g. or eg. - exempli gratia, for example
et al. - et alii, and others
i.e. or ie. - id est, that is; in other words
NB - Nota Bene, note well
PS - Post Script, Written after the end of an informal letter. Used in order to include a piece of information forgotten to be included at the beginning of the letter
RSVP - Repondez s'il vous plait, is an abbreviation for ‘répondez s’il vous plaît’, which means ‘please reply’. It is written on the bottom of a card inviting you to a party or special occasion.
CV - Curriculum Vitae, Latin expression meaning "course of life" in other words, a resumee.
N/A - Not Applicable
RGDS - Regards