What is FYI (For Your Information)

If we receive a email or a memorandum in our workplace and both writings are headed with the acronym FYI we must know that your meaning refers to the English words For Your Information, which in its translation into Spanish means for its information. Therefore, FYI is nothing more than a way to start a communication in writing for the purpose of informing the recipient of a matter that may interest him.

The use of the acronym FYI can be considered as a neutral formality, that is, neither formal nor too colloquial. However, its correct use will depend on the context of the language in which it occurs. In fact, in colloquial information FYI can be arrogant and in official situations it could be considered as a very informal formula. In any case, when FYI is used, the recipient of the message is not expected to respond but simply to take note of the information received.

The use of acronyms in English and Spanish

In English it is very common to use acronyms in written and oral communication

It could be said that this custom is part of the traditioncultural of the Anglo-Saxon countries. In this sense, it is worth remembering some commonly used acronyms in English (SOS as a distress signal. B&B to refer to "bed and breakfast" in the service of hotels or the acronym WASP in allusion to white men of Protestant origin, White Anglo Saxon Protestant).

This tradition of English does not occur in Spanish or Hispanic American culture. However, the influence of English is reaching the Spanish language and in recent years the acronym in some situations (for example, the Real Madrid forward formed by Bale, Benzema and Cristiano is known as the BBC).

The acronyms in new technologies

New technologies change traditions social and, at the same time, end up influencing communication. The acronyms are used very frequently in social networks, especially in twitter. It is worth mentioning some acronyms in common use: RT is a retweet, DM is a direct message or direct message, TT refers to the trending topic or WTF is an exclamation that comes from the expression what the fuck or what happens in Spanish and that is widely used in some forums or chats).

The examples mentioned serve to remind us of some issues: 1) Language is constantly changing because a language is something alive, 2) the globalization and English as the language of globality is imposing itself as a universal language of communication and 3) social networks are creating a new form of more direct communication and the initials FYI or TT are a good example of it.

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