List of email subject abbreviations

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This is a list of commonly and uncommonly used abbreviations that are used in the subject box of an English-language email header.

Contents

Standard prefixes

These prefixes are usually automatically inserted by the email client.

Non-standard infixes and suffixes

These words are inserted in the middle of or at the end of the subject, usually by the author.

Software development

The following prefixes are often used in software development:

Other English abbreviations

This is a list of abbreviations which are less commonly used in the subject of an English email header:

Abbreviations in other languages

The email client will typically check for an existing "Re:" when deciding whether or not to add one in front of the subject. However, clients may use different abbreviations if the computer is set up for a non-English language, e.g. "AW:" for German, and this can mean that a conversation between two participants can build up convoluted subject lines like "Re: AW: Re: AW: ..". Whereas "Re:" stands for "re" in Latin (see Standard prefixes), it is often taken to mean "regarding", "reply" or "response" in English, and in most other languages, similarly, the abbreviation corresponds to the word for "response" or "reply."

To avoid the issue of convoluted subject lines mentioned earlier, email clients may have an option to force the use of the standard (RE) and English (FW) abbreviations even when all other features are presented in another language, [3] or to recognize other forms. [4]

LanguageREFW
Arabic ردإعادة توجيه
Simplified Chinese 回复转发
Traditional Chinese 回覆轉寄
Danish SV (Svar)VS (Videresendt)
Dutch Antw (Antwoord)Doorst (Doorsturen)
Finnish VS (Vastaus)VL (Välitetty)
French REF (Référence) or RE (Réponse) in CanadaTR (Transfert)
German AW (Antwort)WG (Weitergeleitet)
Greek ΑΠ (Απάντηση) or ΣΧΕΤ (Σχετικό)ΠΡΘ (Προωθημένο)
Hebrew השב or תשובההועבר or העברה
Hungarian (Válasz)Továbbítás
Italian R or RIF (Riferimento)I (Inoltro)
Icelandic SV (Svara)FS (Framsenda)
Indonesian BLS (Balas)TRS (Terusan)
Latvian Atb. (Atbilde)Pārs. (Pārsūtīts)
Norwegian SV (Svar)VS (Videresendt)
Swedish SV (Svar)VB (Vidarebefordrat)
Spanish RE (Respuesta)RV (Reenviado)
Portuguese RES (Resposta)ENC (Encaminhado)
Polish Odp (Odpowiedź)PD (Podaj dalej)
Tamil பதில்முன்னனுப்பு
Turkish YNT (Yanıt)İLT (İlet)
Welsh ATB (Ateb)YML (Ymlaen)

See also

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References

  1. Clyde Winfield Wilkinson, et al., Communicating through letters and reports p. 19
  2. https://lore.kernel.org/r/c8287618-30c4-f14b-8ad7-898fee99d944@gmail.com [accessed 2023-02-27]
  3. "Use RE: and FW: instead of localized subject prefix", msoutlook.info
  4. "Reply indicators", mozillazine.org