well... the __() function is more a gettext function, for i18n, wordpress has this function to return translated strings.
Wordpress also wrap echo __('some text') in _e('some text')

I guess creating "shorcuts" is a good idea when you have to repeat a lot of preoccesses over and over again, but in other hand, creating your "own language" is not a good idead, at least your developing a framework :P