What does ASAP mean?
ASAP stands for as soon as possible. It is used in emails, messages and everyday speech to show that something is urgent, as in Please reply ASAP.
ASAP is often pronounced as individual letters, A-S-A-P, or as a word, AY-sap. It is common in workplace emails, text messages and notes. Its exact origin is unclear, but it became widely used in the US military during the mid-1900s and spread into business and everyday speech.
Although ASAP signals urgency, it can be vague, because what is possible for one person may differ from another's expectations. Communication experts often recommend giving a specific deadline instead, such as by 3 p.m. today, to avoid misunderstandings.
Similar abbreviations
Other common workplace abbreviations include EOD, end of day, ETA, estimated time of arrival, TBD, to be determined, and FYI, for your information. In medicine, the Latin abbreviation stat, from statim, is used to mean immediately.
ASAP has also become part of pop culture. It appears in song titles and the names of artists, such as the rapper A$AP Rocky and his collective A$AP Mob, where the letters were given their own meanings. In text messages, people sometimes write asap in lowercase, showing how the abbreviation has become an ordinary everyday word.
Did You Know?
Using too many urgent requests marked ASAP can cause what some call urgency fatigue, where people stop treating them as truly urgent.