..  ..−. / -.−−   −−−   ..− / − .  .−.. .−.. / −  ….  . / −  .−.  ..−  −  …. / −.−−   −−−   ..− /−..   −−−   −.  − / ….  .−  …−  . / −   −−− / .−.  .   −−   .   −−   −…  .  .−. / .−  −.  −.−−  −  ….  ..  −.  −−.

That’s Morse code. I’ll let you decipher it.

Samuel Morse invented the code to use with the telegraph, which he and others invented in 1830s and 1840s.

It’s really pretty amazing how, way before they could send a voice across the world, people could communicate with only the sound of dots and dashes.

They call the dots “dits” and the dashes “dahs” — words that don’t seem to make any sense until you say them aloud. The dits are short, dahs are lo-o-o-ong, just like the code looks.

.. − / ..  … / ..−.  ..−  −. / −   −−− / −…   . / ..  −. / −  ….  . / …  .−  −−  . / −..   .   −.−.   .−   −..   . / .−−   ..   −   …. / −.−−   −−−   ..−

In Radio Girl, T.K. Loomis is a ham radio and Morse code maniac. He’s like that kid you might know who is always on the computer or playing video games. The thing is, Teek has become so good at listening to Morse code messages that he doesn’t even need to write down the dots and dashes to translate what he hears. He just listens and understands.

Where did I get that idea? Well, it started when I found out that this guy I know named Henry is a ham radio fan. When I asked him to help me with the ham parts of the book, he offered up the story of his grandfather, a ham radio operator who, like T.K., was recruited by the U.S. Army because he knew Morse code by ear.

Perfect! Of course! I knew the minute I heard that story that T.K. would be a Morse code expert. Great little stories like this are everywhere, you know? So I stole borrowed Henry’s grandfather’s story and made it T.K.’s.

How to signal for help — S.O.S. — in Morse code: . . . __ __ __ . . .

Anyway, the world doesn’t use Morse code much anymore. But we earthlings still like talking to people all over the planet. I’d like to think that the thrill T.K. feels when he meets someone new from very far away through the airwaves hasn’t changed for most people even now, 75 years later.

Isn’t it still pretty awesome that we can go online and converse with people half a planet away, people we haven’t met in person and may never meet face-to-face, all in a matter of seconds?

(Let me know if you need the answers to the coded sentences in this post. The sources of the quotes are Mark Twain and Franklin Roosevelt, respectively.)

To learn more about Morse code, see Wikipedia on Morse.

To translate your own words into Morse code, try this translator. (link fixed!)

Faster than texting, hands down. See what I mean in this article.