To be announced
To be announced (TBA), to be confirmed or continued (TBC), to be determined or decided or declared (TBD), and other variations, are placeholder terms used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a particular aspect of that remains to be arranged or confirmed.
TBA vs. TBC vs. TBD
These phrases are similar, but may be used for different degrees of indeterminacy:
- To be determined or To be decided (TBD)[1] – the appropriateness, feasibility, location, etc. of a given event has not been decided.
- To be announced (TBA) or To be declared (TBD) – details may have been determined, but are not yet ready to be announced.
- To be confirmed (TBC), To be resolved (TBR),[2] or To be provided (TBP)[3] – details may have been determined and possibly announced, but are still subject to change prior to being finalized.
Other similar phrases sometimes used to convey the same meaning, and using the same abbreviations, include "to be ascertained", "to be arranged", "to be adjudicated", "to be done", "to be decided", and "to be declared".
Use of the abbreviation "TBA" is formally reported in a reference work at least as early as 1955,[4] and "TBD" is similarly reported as early as 1967.[5]
Examples
These various placeholder terms are often used to indicate to the public that a vacant position in a lineup of speakers, musicians, or other performers remains to be filled. The terms also frequently indicate that a creative work, such as an album or film, is forthcoming but that the date of release is not yet known. If the forthcoming project is not yet named, these placeholders may be used to indicate that the name has not yet been selected, although the project may also be designated as "untitled" pending that determination. The terms are also used in sports schedules, particularly where one team has locked in a position in a playoff schedule, but its opponent cannot yet be determined because several teams may qualify for the spot depending on their remaining wins or losses for the season, or because other teams have not yet competed in playoff games that will determine who will face the locked-in team.[6] In government and business, the terms may be used to indicate that a vacant organizational position is expected to be filled, or conversely that a particular individual will be employed in an as-yet-uncreated position.
Investment type
"TBA" (meaning "to be announced") is also used to describe a specific type of simple mortgage investment, the forward mortgage-backed security.[7] This is used to indicate that the investor is acquiring some portion of a pending pool of as-yet unspecified mortgages, which will be specified at a given delivery date.[7] This usage has existed at least since the 1980s.[8]
See also
- A. N. Other, sometimes ANO, Ann Other
- Nomen nescio or NN
- n/a
- To be continued
References
- ^ Frank Luntz, Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear (2007), p. 189.
- ^ Kevin Forsberg, Hal Mooz, Howard Cotterman, Visualizing Project Management: Models and Frameworks for Mastering Complex Systems (2005), p. 161: "Requirements whose definition is approximately but not exactly known are called To Be Resolved (TBR)".
- ^ Levent Yilmaz, Concepts and Methodologies for Modeling and Simulation (2015), p. 205: "Also use of the placeholder "TBD" (to be determined or to be defined), "TBR" (to be resolved), "TBP" (to be provided), and use of the phrases such as "as a minimum," "as a maximum," and "not limited to" are indications of incomplete requirements specification".
- ^ Robert J. Schwartz, The Complete Dictionary of Abbreviations (1955).
- ^ Ralph De Sola, Abbreviations Dictionary (1967).
- ^ See, for example, Indianapolis Monthly: Volume 32, Issues 5-9 (2008), stating: "INDIANAPOLIS COLTS It's playoff time. Can the Colts pick off their rivals one by one, or will they fall victim to last year's heartbreaking turn of events? Ticket prices and opponents TBD."
- ^ a b Robert W. Kolb, James A. Overdahl, Financial Derivatives: Pricing and Risk Management (2009), p. 141.
- ^ See Bureau of National Affairs, Securities Regulation & Law Report: Volume 16 (1984), p. 1765, noting that "[t]he transactions in question at FCA were TBA (to be announced) Ginnie Mae forward contracts..."