Over time, you'll get used to the more common (and some less common) airport and airline codes. While the FT glossary is great, I find google to be more convenient most of the time.
For example
hsv airport
or
5j airline code
I often append to word wiki to both types of searches because I like the standard formatting of wikipedia pages.
Another slightly common search worthy case is when people mention flight numbers like "what's up with UA 858 today?" In this case, I would google "UA 858", and note that the main page always shows the basic flight info, and a few rows down, there is a usually a link to the flightaware page.
Unwritten FT etiquette is to spell out uncommon airports/airlines, but the google drill is honestly pretty easy, and I often find that it leads me to learning new things...which is part of the fun of our hobby.