The Word Snoop by Ursula Dubosarsky Read Free Book Online Page A

L.A.S.E.R. ( L ight A mplification by S timulated E mission of R adiation) became LASER and is now just plain old laser. That’s what you call a really successful acronym. (Well done!)
And finally the backronym . . .
    Sometimes acronyms have been worked out backward to fit a word that already exists. They’re called backronyms . People do this for lots of different reasons:
    * to make you laugh, e.g., PICNIC— P roblem I n C hair N ot I n C omputer
    * to tell you what to do, e.g., DEAR— D rop E verything A nd R ead
    * to give something complicated a simple name, so that it’s easier to identify or sell, e.g., the computer language BASIC— B eginners A ll-purpose S ymbolic I nstruction C ode
    * to help you remember something important, e.g., the Olympic gold-medalist Cathy Freeman used the backronym FLAG to help her win races— F ly L eg-speed A ttack G o!
    * as a kind of brain teaser, where the words that make up the acronym actually explain what it means, e.g., SPAM— S tupid P ointless A nnoying M essages
    And then there are the Word Snoop’s favorite backronyms, the ones that form a secret code. During WWII, soldiers who were posted overseas would write backronyms, using the names of countries, on the backs of letters they sent home. Now, if the person receiving it didn’t know it was a backronym, they would just frown and say, “How very peculiar!” But if they understood . . . aha!
    Don’t get too excited, though; they were mainly love letters. So ITALY on the back of an envelope meant “ I T rust A nd L ove Y ou” and HOLLAND meant “ H ope O ur L ove L asts A nd N ever D ies.” (Ahh.)
    Hmm. What do you think MALAYA stood for? Well, it could be:
    M y A untie L ucy A te Y our A pple
or
M y A rdent L ips A wait Y our A rrival
    I bet you could make up some amazing backronyms out of the names of countries yourself. Go on, give it a try—it doesn’t have to be a love letter (that’s a relief!). Any sort of secret message will do. Here are a few the Word Snoop just made up:
    JAPAN ( J elly A nd P ies A re N ice)
SYRIA ( S end Y our R ed I guana A way)
    Why don’t you try with TONGA or CHILE? Or, for a real challenge, what about UZBEKISTAN!
    Me again, Word Snoops! My guess is you’re getting very good at cracking codes by now. See how you do with this one. (Hint: Think about what a lipogram is.)
     
     
     
     
     
     
    REAE AN ASTARLY COES
    Answers
    ANAGRAMS
    1. North. South, East, West
    2. Silent
    3. Astronomer
    4. The Morse Code
    5. Hibernates
    LIPOGRAMS
    1. Lipogram on E
    2. Lipogram on A
    3. Lipogram on O
    Dear Snoops,
    Is anyone watching? Or listening?
Are you sure? Okay then, so we can talk.
    Can you speak Greek? It’s a handy language for
us Word Snoops. You’ve probably noticed a few
Greek words in this book already. This is because
in the old days at universities people often learned
ancient Greek so they could read all the wonderful
books the ancient Greeks wrote — comedy, tragedy,
history, mathematics, philosophy — you name it.
People’s minds were so full of Greek words, they
kept slipping them into English.
    Maybe one day you’ll be able to learn ancient
Greek too. In the meantime, remember the Greek
alphabet is different from ours. When you change
a Greek word to English, you have to
transliterate it — change from one alphabet to
another. It’s a bit tricky, but useful for writing
secret messages…
    Your friend,
θε υορδ σνοοπ . . .

5.
    Is that another Greek word?

Palindromes
    P alindromes are words or sentences that are spelled the same backward or forward. The word palindrome comes from two ancient Greek words— palin, meaning “back again,” and dromos , meaning “running”—so it’s a word that runs forward and then back again. Look closely at the words EYE, NOON, and RADAR. It doesn’t matter at which end you start writing the word, it’s spelled the same. This means they are palindromes.
    The ancient Greeks and Romans enjoyed making