There is no such thing as a 'annoying' question if you don't know the answer.
So, to combine both contexts here, the general and the Moodle. Moodle uses PHP combined with data in a
Database to generate (at the server -> can be Linux) the HTML that is combined with CSS to style the output of the page, combined with
JavaScript to make it dynamic at the client end, being the web browser. Thus, theme wise if its to do with the look then its likely to be a CSS thing (ignoring that it could be SCSS - same sort of thing), if its to do with the content of the page then its likely to be a PHP thing or possibly a JavaScript thing (which actually can use PHP indirectly with a technology called
AJAX). So when you're looking at issues and scratching your head, then I hope this helps with the initial investigation of 'where to look' for a possible answer.
In this specific case, I looked at the output (in the browser with web development tools - key F12), found a related CSS class in the mark up, searched the theme PHP (using Notepad++ - a Windows based text editor) for where that was outputted, traced the call stack back to find the point where the name of the course was retrieved, then worked forward following the function trail until I discovered the core setting that could be enabled and then used with the functionality that had been put in place to discover how altering that special language string could allow you to set the short instead of the full name for the course. Then knowing the setting name, then allowed me to find its settings page on the UI, and then find the '
Moodle docs' link at the bottom.
Thus, a little bit of knowledge of how things work, went a long way to help with the detective process of finding the solution. I hope this does not come across as patronising, it is not my intent. My intent here is to help and educate, so that you're not relying on me (or others), and the time delay that implies, to solve every problem you encounter, again not intended as patronising, but as a positive thing for you.
And... Java and JavaScript are two completely different things! This confuses lots of people.