One of the habits that most chemists engage in when they sketch out structures with a pen and paper is the use of abbreviations for certain kinds of functional groups. Using abbreviations saves a lot of wasted time and ink, and it is also a useful way to draw attention to the chemistry that is relevant to the subject at hand, and away from the spinach that is coming along for the ride. For example:

In this classical organic chemisty reaction, the phenyl groups of the Wittig reagent are abbreviated as Ph, and the unreactive alkyl chain is abbreviated as a molecular formula, because these groups are inert and not particularly exciting; the part that really matters is the reaction transform.

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