5 exercises — learn to translate everyday IT slang and acronyms into professional language for emails, reports, and client communication.
IT slang vs. formal English — quick reference
LGTM → "This looks good to me / I approve this."
WFH / OOO → "working from home" / "out of office / unavailable"
nit → "minor stylistic observation" (code review)
timebox → "allocate a fixed maximum time for"
EOD / ETA / TBD → "end of day" / "expected by" / "not yet decided"
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
A colleague comments on your pull request: "LGTM — nice refactor 👍" How would you translate LGTM for a formal status report?
LGTM = Looks Good To Me. In code reviews, it means the reviewer has checked the code and approves it — no changes required. In formal writing: "The implementation has been reviewed and approved." Other review acronyms: PTAL (Please Take A Look — requesting a review), NIT / nit (short for "nitpick" — a minor comment that does not block the review), RFC (Request for Comments — open for discussion). These acronyms are extremely common on GitHub, GitLab, Gerrit, and in Slack comments, but are almost never used in formal documents.
2 / 5
Your manager sends: "I'm WFH today — ping me on Slack if urgent, OOO for the afternoon stand-up." Which formal restatement is correct?
WFH = Working From Home. OOO = Out Of Office — not physically present or reachable on work channels. In formal emails: "I will be working remotely today and unavailable during the afternoon session." Other status acronyms: EOD (End Of Day — by the time the working day ends), ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival — when something will be ready), TBD / TBC (To Be Decided / To Be Confirmed — not yet decided or finalized), ASAP (As Soon As Possible). These are so common that some — like ETA, ASAP — are acceptable in formal writing. WFH and OOO are informal and should be spelled out in official correspondence.
3 / 5
A senior developer writes in a code review: "nit: the variable name `d` is hard to read — consider `duration` instead." What is a nit in this context?
Nit (short for nitpick) = a minor, low-priority comment in code review. It does not block the PR from being merged — it's the reviewer saying "this is a small improvement I noticed, but it's up to you." The word comes from "nitpicking" — searching for tiny faults. In formal writing: "Minor observation: consider renaming `d` to `duration` for readability." When you leave a nit comment, it's professional practice to prefix it with "nit:" so the author immediately knows it's not urgent. Related terms: blocker (an issue that must be fixed before merging), suggestion (a non-blocking improvement), optional (explicitly non-mandatory).
4 / 5
In a planning meeting, the lead says: "Let's timebox this discussion to 10 minutes — we can take it offline if we need more time." Which translation is accurate?
Timebox = to set a fixed maximum time limit for an activity. No matter what happens, you stop when the time is up. Originated in Agile (Scrum sprints are timeboxes). "Take it offline" = continue the discussion privately / separately — usually between fewer people, after the main meeting. Formal equivalent: "We'll allocate 10 minutes to this agenda item. Any unresolved points will be addressed in a separate session." Related terms: spike (a time-boxed investigation into a technical problem, common in Scrum), deep dive (an in-depth analysis session), parking lot (list of topics deferred from a meeting to be addressed later).
5 / 5
A PM sends a Slack message: "FYI — the client demo got moved. New ETA is EOD Friday. TBD whether we need to reschedule the sprint review." Which formal restatement is correct?
FYI = For Your Information — sharing information with no action required. ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival — the expected time something will be completed or delivered. EOD = End Of Day — by the end of the working day (usually 5–6 pm local time; confirm the time zone with colleagues!). TBD = To Be Decided — not yet determined. Formal example: "Please be advised that the client demo has been rescheduled to Friday by end of business. The impact on the sprint review is yet to be confirmed." Other common acronyms: TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read — followed by a brief summary), IMO / IMHO (In My / Humble Opinion), AFAIK (As Far As I Know), FWIW (For What It's Worth).