If we want to have a custom list that has an abbreviation code as well - is that even possible? It is not a matrix list i am doing. Finance knows the code, but the rest of the users knows the words. So we want to be able to select the words, but have the code attached to the record as well... Any suggestions?

Convert the list to a custom record and create a field for the abbreviation. You could name the custom record in a way that has the name and code so the users can easily search it.

i thought custom record would come into play... Thanks for confirming my suspicions