Ideograms are an important tool used by interpreters. For example, the letter “E” laid on its side (like the Cyrillic letter "sha", Ш) may represent Europe. Then one can specify whether eastern, western, or central Europe is meant by slashing the relevant upward leg. A horizontal bar with two vertical bars beneath it might represent a table, which would indicate a meeting or a conference. A bracket before an action indicates that the action will take place in the future, and vice versa.