“But if they’re so fierce and dangerous,” Charlie said, “why didn’t they eat us up right away in the Space Hotel? Why did they waste time twisting their bodies into letters and writing SCRAM?”
“Because they’re show–offs,” Mr. Wonka replied. “They’re tremendously proud of being able to write like that.”
“But why say scram when they wanted to catch us and eat us?”
“It’s the only word they know,” Mr. Wonka said.