What Do 'Cc' and 'Bcc' Mean, Anyway?

For anyone who regularly sends or receives emails, the abbreviations cc and bcc should be quite familiar. If not, here’s a quick rundown of how they’re used in emails.

Let’s say you're emailing Betty to confirm that you and your partner will be attending her picnic. You want your partner to be aware of your RSVP, but don’t need them to reply. So, you add Betty’s email in the ‘To’ field and your partner’s email in the ‘Cc’ field. This way, your partner gets the message without the pressure to respond. Essentially, cc serves as a 'for your information' notification.

Now, imagine Betty is known for constantly sending chain emails, and you’re worried your partner’s email will be added to her list if you cc them. In this case, you would place your partner’s email in the ‘Bcc’ field instead. They will still get the message, but Betty won’t see that they’re included.

What Do Cc and Bcc Really Mean?

If you’ve ever overheard colleagues mention ‘copying’ someone on an email, you can likely guess that one of the c’s in cc refers to ‘carbon’. The term ‘carbon copy’ actually predates emails by many years.

As early as the late 19th century, people would use carbon paper between sheets of regular paper in their typewriters to create duplicates of documents without having to retype them. Over time, it became standard to list the names of those receiving copies next to c.c. so everyone knew who else had seen the document. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known use of the abbreviation appears in a 1936 secretarial manual—so it was likely in use before then.

Bcc stands for blind carbon copy, a variant of the slightly older term blind copy. Similar to today’s email version, a blind carbon copy meant the primary recipient wouldn’t see a list of others who received copies of the letter.

In modern times, the term courtesy copy is sometimes used as an alternative to carbon copy for cc, although it’s not historically accurate. Nevertheless, it fits the current practice, which no longer involves using actual carbon paper.