ASAP

What it means

ASAP stands for 'as soon as possible.' It signals urgency — do the thing at the earliest moment you can. It's used in everything from work requests to texts, and can be pronounced as a word ('AY-sap') or spelled out letter by letter.

Words like “ASAP” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.

Examples

• Can you send me the report ASAP?
• We need to leave ASAP or we'll miss the train.
• Please reply ASAP so we can confirm the booking.
• He fixed the bug ASAP once he saw how serious it was.

Where it comes from

A WWII-era military abbreviation that moved into business and then everyday English. Because it can be said as a single word, many people treat it as an acronym rather than a letter-by-letter initialism.

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