diff --git a/Programs/CosmOS/README.md b/Programs/CosmOS/README.md
index 15a917e..9e2d346 100644
--- a/Programs/CosmOS/README.md
+++ b/Programs/CosmOS/README.md
@@ -125,10 +125,17 @@ line comes from - the shell splits it, matches it and runs it without knowing th
 ```
 #! script
 ; Build the system and put it where the machine will find it.
+echo building CosmOS
 cd /Source/CosmOS
 Asm cosmos.asm
+echo done
 ```
 
+`echo` is a command rather than a program on purpose. `Say.sbx` has printed words since before
+there were scripts and is the wrong shape for one: being a program, it has to be found on the
+disk and loaded and started, it prefixes what it was told with `it says:`, and the system
+prints `finished` after it - three lines of noise around one line of narration.
+
 **The first two bytes must be `#!`**, or the shell refuses the file and says so. That is what
 tells a script from anything else, and it is deliberately not the name and not a flag in the
 directory entry: the rule this filesystem keeps is that an entry holds only what the content
@@ -176,6 +183,7 @@ CosmOS currently provides these built-in commands:
 | `load <path>` | Read and validate an SBEX application, then place its code and data where its header requests. |
 | `run [words]` | Start the loaded application and make the rest of the line available to it as an argument. |
 | `do <script>` | Run the lines in a file as though they had been typed. See Scripts. |
+| `echo [words]` | Say the rest of the line, or a blank line with nothing after it. |
 | `cd [path]` | Go to a directory, or to the root with nothing after it. |
 | `mkdir <path>` | Make a directory. |
 | `rmdir <path>` | Remove one, if it is empty. |
diff --git a/Programs/CosmOS/Source/cosmos.asm b/Programs/CosmOS/Source/cosmos.asm
index 8746e00..682856a 100644
--- a/Programs/CosmOS/Source/cosmos.asm
+++ b/Programs/CosmOS/Source/cosmos.asm
@@ -249,6 +249,11 @@ promptSay:
   CALL textSame
   BRQ doRename
 
+  SETD.0 CommandLine
+  SETD.1 EchoName
+  CALL textSame
+  BRQ doEcho
+
   SETD.0 CommandLine
   SETD.1 DoName
   CALL textSame
@@ -1580,6 +1585,23 @@ fileComplain:
   CALL newLine
   BRI commandFailed
 
+; ---- echo ----
+;
+; Says the rest of the line and nothing else. Say.sbx has done this since before there were
+; scripts, and is the wrong shape for one: it is a program, so it has to be found on the
+; disk and loaded and started, it prefixes what it was told with "it says:", and the system
+; prints "finished" after it. That is three lines of noise around one line of narration.
+;
+; A script telling you what it is doing is the ordinary case now, so it costs a command
+; rather than a program. With nothing after it, a blank line - which is what anybody will
+; expect and is worth having for spacing a long script out.
+doEcho:
+  SETD.1 TextRest
+  LDD.0.1
+  CALL printString
+  CALL newLine
+  BRI prompt
+
 ; ---- do ----
 ;
 ; Runs the lines in a file as though they had been typed. What makes a file one of these is
@@ -3562,6 +3584,9 @@ doHelp:
   SETD.0 HelpCdText
   CALL printString
   CALL newLine
+  SETD.0 HelpScriptText
+  CALL printString
+  CALL newLine
   SETD.0 HelpMoreText
   CALL printString
   CALL newLine
@@ -3661,6 +3686,9 @@ HelpCdText:
 "cd [path]    go to a directory, or to the root with nothing after it
 mkdir <path>         make a directory
 rmdir <path>         remove an empty one"
+HelpScriptText:
+"do <file>    run the lines in a file, which must start with #!
+echo [words] say them"
 HelpMoreText:
 "delete <file>        take it off the disk
 rename <file> <to>   call it something else
@@ -3786,6 +3814,8 @@ DirName:
 "dir"
 DoName:
 "do"
+EchoName:
+"echo"
 LoadName:
 "load"
 RunName:
diff --git a/Tests/expected/cosmos.out b/Tests/expected/cosmos.out
index 38ba6d4..1bb7eab 100644
--- a/Tests/expected/cosmos.out
+++ b/Tests/expected/cosmos.out
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ run [words]  start what was loaded, and tell it those words
 cd [path]    go to a directory, or to the root with nothing after it
 mkdir <path>         make a directory
 rmdir <path>         remove an empty one
+do <file>    run the lines in a file, which must start with #!
+echo [words] say them
 delete <file>        take it off the disk
 rename <file> <to>   call it something else
 monitor      look at memory, change it, and jump into it
diff --git a/Tests/expected/cosmosDeep.out b/Tests/expected/cosmosDeep.out
index 10b6043..c48f303 100644
--- a/Tests/expected/cosmosDeep.out
+++ b/Tests/expected/cosmosDeep.out
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ run [words]  start what was loaded, and tell it those words
 cd [path]    go to a directory, or to the root with nothing after it
 mkdir <path>         make a directory
 rmdir <path>         remove an empty one
+do <file>    run the lines in a file, which must start with #!
+echo [words] say them
 delete <file>        take it off the disk
 rename <file> <to>   call it something else
 monitor      look at memory, change it, and jump into it
diff --git a/Tests/expected/cosmosInvoke.out b/Tests/expected/cosmosInvoke.out
index b10c9ef..87dfa55 100644
--- a/Tests/expected/cosmosInvoke.out
+++ b/Tests/expected/cosmosInvoke.out
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ run [words]  start what was loaded, and tell it those words
 cd [path]    go to a directory, or to the root with nothing after it
 mkdir <path>         make a directory
 rmdir <path>         remove an empty one
+do <file>    run the lines in a file, which must start with #!
+echo [words] say them
 delete <file>        take it off the disk
 rename <file> <to>   call it something else
 monitor      look at memory, change it, and jump into it
diff --git a/Tests/expected/cosmosRun.out b/Tests/expected/cosmosRun.out
index 1d82cea..946e9b0 100644
--- a/Tests/expected/cosmosRun.out
+++ b/Tests/expected/cosmosRun.out
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Keys.sbx                664
 Say.sbx                 156
 Break.sbx               149
 notes.txt               21
-hi.script               87
+hi.script               121
 bad.script              45
 plain.script            24
 cross.script            280
diff --git a/Tests/expected/cosmosScript.out b/Tests/expected/cosmosScript.out
index 447fe0f..13e8235 100644
--- a/Tests/expected/cosmosScript.out
+++ b/Tests/expected/cosmosScript.out
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 CosmOS
-> > Say from a script
+> > echo saying what it is doing
+saying what it is doing
+> Say from a script
 it says: from a script
 finished
+> echo
+
 > Say and again
 it says: and again
 finished
diff --git a/Tests/expected/cosmosSlowDisk.out b/Tests/expected/cosmosSlowDisk.out
index 7cf8937..c0b126c 100644
--- a/Tests/expected/cosmosSlowDisk.out
+++ b/Tests/expected/cosmosSlowDisk.out
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Keys.sbx                664
 Say.sbx                 156
 Break.sbx               149
 notes.txt               21
-hi.script               87
+hi.script               121
 bad.script              45
 plain.script            24
 cross.script            280
diff --git a/Tests/expected/cosmosTyped.out b/Tests/expected/cosmosTyped.out
index ebfdda6..197572c 100644
--- a/Tests/expected/cosmosTyped.out
+++ b/Tests/expected/cosmosTyped.out
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ run [words]  start what was loaded, and tell it those words
 cd [path]    go to a directory, or to the root with nothing after it
 mkdir <path>         make a directory
 rmdir <path>         remove an empty one
+do <file>    run the lines in a file, which must start with #!
+echo [words] say them
 delete <file>        take it off the disk
 rename <file> <to>   call it something else
 monitor      look at memory, change it, and jump into it
diff --git a/Tests/makedisks.sh b/Tests/makedisks.sh
index 818aebc..89c03e1 100755
--- a/Tests/makedisks.sh
+++ b/Tests/makedisks.sh
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ printf 'this is not a program' > notes.txt
 # committed file is one an editor can helpfully repair. cross.script puts a command across
 # the 256 byte boundary between two blocks, and nonl.script ends without a newline; both
 # were real faults before they were checks, and both are invisible in a text editor.
-printf '#! script\n; A comment, which never reaches the shell.\nSay from a script\n\nSay and again\n' > hi.script
+printf '#! script\n; A comment, which never reaches the shell.\necho saying what it is doing\nSay from a script\n\necho\nSay and again\n' > hi.script
 "$TOOL" put "$DISKS/cosmos.img" hi.script >/dev/null
 # Stops at the bad line, so "after" must not appear.
 printf '#! script\nSay before\nnosuchcommand\nSay after\n' > bad.script