find unique abbreviations from array... did not end up needing or completing this, but might be useful later

abbrevify

function abbevify(items,targetLength,pos,obj){
  var obj = obj || {},
  pos = pos || 1,
  arr = items.slice(0),
  t = arr[0].substring(0, pos)
  if(!obj[t]){
    obj[t] = arr.shift();
    pos=1
  }
  else {
    pos++
  }
  return (arr.length>0) ? abbevify(arr, targetLength,pos, obj) : obj
}