BCC

What Does BCC Mean in a Text?

The Quick Answer

When used on an email, BCC stands for "Blind Carbon Copy."

More Detail...

As well as "To" and Cc addressees, an email can have Bcc addressees. These are people copied on the email that all other email recipients are unaware of. Only the sender knows who the Bcc addresses are. (Even Bcc addressees cannot see who the other Bcc addressees are.) In contrast, all the email recipients can see who the "To" and the Cc addressees are. In summary, the types of email address are as follows:

Email Addressee Type	Reason
To:	The email is asking this person to do something or it is highly relevant to the person.
Cc:	The email is for information only or it is only partially relevant to the person.
Bcc:	The email is secretly copied to this person. Typically, this is to hide the relationship between the sender and the Bcc addressee from the other recipients.

In business emails between multiple companies, it is a fairly common practice for an email to have only Bcc addressees. This is done so the addressees cannot see who else is liaising with the sender.

Image for BCC

When I write BCC, I mean this:

Bcc means "Blind Carbon Copy." Of note, the term "carbon copy" comes from the practice of copying a document by placing a carbon sheet under the top sheet so the pen imprints carbon (or ink) from the carbon sheet onto the sheet below (the carbon copy).

Summary of Key Points

"Blind Carbon Copy" is, by far, the most common meaning for BCC when it is used in a text. (Bear in mind that it could have another meaning if used in a different context.)

BCC
Definition:	Blind Carbon Copy (on an email) (see also CC)
Type:	Abbreviation
Guessability:	4: Difficult to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Examples of Bcc in Sentences

Here is an example of Bcc in a conversation:

• Charlie: I will Bcc you on my email reprimanding Johnson.
• Jordan: Good move. He doesn't need to know I know at this stage.

An Academic Look at Bcc

Bcc is most commonly used a verb, but it is also used as a noun and an adjective. For example:

• Please Bcc me on your email.
(Here, Bcc is a verb.)
• I sent you a Bcc.
(Here, CC is a noun.)
• I sent you a Bcc copy.
(Here, Bcc is an adjective. In this example, it is being use tautologically because the last C stands for "Copy," making the word "copy" redundant.)

Of note, Bcc is an initialism abbreviation. This means it is pronounced using its individual letters (i.e., Bee See See). (NB: Initialisms contrast with acronyms, which are spoken like words.)

Example of BCC Used in a Text

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