Usage: /usr/bin/echo [SHORT-OPTION]... [STRING]... or: /usr/bin/echo LONG-OPTION Echo the STRING(s) to standard output. -n do not output the trailing newline -e enable interpretation of backslash escapes -E disable interpretation of backslash escapes (default) --help display this help and exit --version output version information and exit If -e is in effect, the following sequences are recognized: \\ backslash \a alert (bell) \b backspace \c produce no further output \e escape \f form feed \n new line \r carriage return \t horizontal tab \v vertical tab \0NNN byte with octal value NNN (1 to 3 digits) \xHH byte with hexadecimal value HH (1 to 2 digits) Your shell may have its own version of echo, which usually supersedes the version described here. Please refer to your shell's documentation for details about the options it supports. Consider using the printf(1) command instead, as it avoids problems when outputting option-like strings. Report bugs to: . GNU coreutils home page: General help using GNU software: Full documentation or available locally via: info '(coreutils) echo invocation'