What Does That Mean (WDTM)

Ever hear a bunch of IT people start talking in acronyms, use phrases, or adages and have no clue what they mean...This page is dedicated to providing definitions.

Deciphering Acronyms Deciphering GIFfrom Deciphering Acronyms GIFs

Click the button to sort the table alphabetically, by Acronym:

Technical Acronyms

Acronym Meaning Phrases
IP Internet Protocol The IP address is 192.168.1.1
DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DNS Domain Name System
BGP Border Gateway Protocol
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
OS Operating Systems
DISM Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool
SFC System File Checker Windows computer not acting right? Let me run sfc /scannow
WMI Windows Management Instrumentation
PxE Pre-boot execution environment
ADK Assessment and Deployment Kit
MECM Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager
MEM Microsoft Endpoint Manager
CCM Client Configuration Manager
AVD Azure Virtual Desktop
PIM Privileged Identity Management
PAM Privileged Access Management
RMM Remote Monitoring and Management
ABI Always be imaging
SLA Service Level Agreement I need to ABC to keep my SLA's down
ABC Always be closing My SLA's are great cause I ABC!
AI Artificial Intelligence
sudo Superuser Do
AV Anti-Virus
DLP Data Loss Prevention
SFTP (Secure) File Transfer Protocol
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SaaS Software as a Service
AD Active Directory
AAD Azure Active Directory
ADFS Active Directory Federation Services
CA Conditional Access
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology
DevOps Developer Operations
BYOD Bring your own device
FIDO Fast Identity Online

General Acronyms

Acronym Meaning Phrases
ELI5 Explain Like I'm 5 ELI5 these terms and conditions
WDTM What does that mean
WFH Work from home
AFD Away from desk
RTO Return to office
FYSA For your situational awareness
AMA Ask me anything
FTFY Fixed that for you
TIL Today I learned
YSK You should know
YMMV Your milage may vary
OP Original poster
TLDR Too long: didn't read
NGL Not gonna lie
BRB Be right back
NSFW Not safe for work Let's maybe not open that Reddit thread with the NSFW label
SFW Safe for work
AFAIK As far as I know
IMO or IMHO In my opinion / In my honest or humble opinion
IIRC If I remember correctly
IRL In real life
RTM Read the manual or Return to merchandiser
SMH Shaking my head
LMGTFY Let me google that for you
GOAT Greatest of all time Patrick Mahomes is a GOAT.
WIP Work in progress
WIR Week in review

Adages

Adage Meaning Phrases
Mea Culpa An acknowledgment of one's fault or error
You are never too old to learn Learning is a lifelong process and is not limited to youth
Red herring Something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue This error in the logs is a red herring
Shift Left

1. Practice of moving testing, quality, and performance evaluation early in the development process, often before any code is written.

2. A concept that aims to shorten resolution times and reduce costs by solving issues earlier in the support process.