A grid that ostensibly charts the history of the world makes references to the Soviet Union, submarines and Christ, but other shorthand symbols cannot easily be pinned down.

If the A.T.M. is the shorthand symbol of how easy modern space-based technology has made our lives, then the precision-guided munition is that symbol for the average grunt.

There were many other such shorthand symbols, to indicate corrections, emendations, deletions, additions, and so on.

Letters in brackets after the formation name represent shorthand symbols used on geological maps.

Nothing moved in the room above, save Dobbs' right hand, penciling shorthand symbols on a pad.

Route 128, the highway encircling Boston that was the address of many computer companies, became a shorthand symbol of the technology boom.

They rely not on a lot of shorthand symbols, but quite a lot of spelling out of words and a literalness of language.

And there is also something about the shorthand symbols that makes it different from writing.

The shorthand symbols: s2, 2px, 2py, and 2pz stand for actual mathematical formulas of the position of the electrons.

Common table salt is sodium chloride (NaCl) if you are getting into the shorthand symbols for elements, which is not a bad idea if you limit it to a few simpler ones.