"Useful shorthand" refers to a way of expressing or representing something in a quick and easy manner, which helps convey the main idea or message without going into all the details. Full definition
In today's National Post, the Fraser Institute «s Mark Milke argues that there is, and that «the ethical oil tag is useful shorthand for why Canada's oil is preferable to that extracted elsewhere.» (canadianbusiness.com)
However, it's still useful shorthand, because building an economical ODR system for these disputes will depend on economies of scale: an ODR platform may operate cheaply case by case but not be cheap to design and build. (slaw.ca)
Sometimes it's necessary or useful shorthand between experts within the field, but more often it's just lazy writing. (slaw.ca)