Although many publicly-traded entities still use abbreviations of their names as ticker symbols, some companies have chosen to use theirs as marketing tools by picking symbols that form a word related to their business or convey an action or idea.

FORBES: The Evolution of Ticker Symbols

As many have said, the language trend that first started with email and later text messaging has been to use more abbreviations, and even symbols (emoticons or smiley faces) to convey ideas, emotions or context.

FORBES: The Changing Grammar of Communicating Ideas

Lol, ttfn, brb are just a few abbreviations which have skyrocketed in use over the last few years.

FORBES: Not NSFW: Dealing with Acronym Addiction

But the extensive use of jargon, abbreviations and obscure slang can make it hard for computers to figure out what people are saying.

ECONOMIST: Monitor

When the young members of Generation-i use their phones to send text messages, the small keyboards make typing awkward and abbreviations even more important: "b4n" (bye for now), "cu" (see you).

WSJ: David Gelernter: The Pros and Cons of Cyber-English