As a new guy to all of this I am struggling to understand some of the short hand used on the squad lists.

So do we know if its possible to have sticky threads in these forums (and who has the ability to do it) so that we can have a list at the top of all the common abbreviations for new cards and new people to reference?

I am willing to manage it (so I can learn as I go )

Just take a look at the Sticky at the top of the main X-Wing page which will lead to what you seek.

Thanks, yes this is exactly what I was looking for but for some reason isn't showing up on my main page (and for some reason didn't show up searching for "Slang" until I sorted by title)

It isn't exactly a sticky by itself but rather something to find in the INDEX of Links that is stickied to the top. Too many sticky threads makes a board unwieldy so here they're all stuck under a single thread. That single thread is a major accomplishment.