initialism🔤 abbreviation

FYI

for your information

What it means

FYI stands for 'for your information.' People add it to a message when they're passing along something useful that doesn't necessarily need a reply — a heads-up rather than a request. It's common in work emails and chats, where it can sound neutral and helpful or, depending on tone, slightly passive-aggressive.

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

Examples

  • FYI, the meeting was moved to 3 p.m.
  • I'm forwarding this email FYI — no action needed on your side.
  • FYI, the printer on the second floor is out of toner again.
  • Just FYI, she's out of office until Monday.

Where it comes from

An initialism (you say the letters, 'eff-why-eye') that grew out of mid-20th-century office and memo culture and became one of the most common abbreviations in email and messaging.

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