The Word Snoop

Table of Contents

 

 

 

First published in the United States 2009 by DIAL BOOKS
A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Published by The Penguin Group
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Published in Australia 2008 by Viking as
The Word Spy

Text copyright © 2008 by Ursula Dubosarsky Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Tohby Riddle All rights reserved

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any
responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

Text set in Adobe Caslon • S.A.

 

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dubosarsky, Ursula, date.
The word snoop / Ursula Dubosarsky ; illustrated by Tohby Riddle.
p. cm.
Previously published under title: The word spy, 2008.
Summary: A tour of the English language from the beginning of the
alphabet in 4000 BC to modern text messaging and emoticons.

eISBN : 978-1-101-16285-9

1. English language—History—Juvenile literature. I. Riddle, Tohby,
ill. II. Duborsarsky, Ursula, date, Word spy. III. Title.
PE1075.D83 2009
420.9—dc22
2009008306

 

 

 

 

 

Polonius:
What do you read, my lord?

Hamlet:
Words, words, words.

 

HAMLET
BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

You may not know me, but I know you. I am
—
the WORD SNOOP!

 

The Word Snoop? Allow me to explain . . . You
see, I love words. Ever since I can remember, I’ve
been listening to, speaking, reading, writing, and
yes
—
snooping on words. I follow words every-
where. I creep down dark hallways, roam wide
highways, and sneak along country lanes.
I listen to conversations, read over people’s
shoulders, flip through books, click on
websites, and tap out text messages . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timeline

Dear Snoops,

I’m writing to you from a secret location. Don’t
tell anyone where I am, okay? Oh, that’s right,
you don’t actually know where I am
—
do you?

 

Anyway, one thing you do know is your ABCs.
That’s right, the alphabet. Now, maybe the
alphabet sounds like a pretty ordinary thing to
you, but actually it’s not. The only way you are
able to read this book, or have it read to you, is
because of the invention thousands of years ago
of that mysterious thing we call
—
The Alphabet.

 

 

 

 

I
magine yourself back when you were learning the alphabet for the very first time. Twenty-six different letters—you probably thought you’d never be able to remember them all. But have you ever wondered where those strange shapes came from in the first place?

The very earliest writing in the world started in the area now known as Iraq in about 4000 BC. It’s called cuneiform, which means “wedge-shaped.” You know when you play with putty or clay, and you dig your fingernails into it to make shapes? Cuneiform was a bit like that—it was a way of writing by pressing wedges into soft clay to make signs for words and sounds. It looked like this: