diff --git a/bin/crypt b/bin/crypt
index 99306d3..6a0cb78 100755
--- a/bin/crypt
+++ b/bin/crypt
@@ -983,6 +983,22 @@ class Crypt::Game {
     }
 }
 
+sub expand_cmd($syncmd, %synonyms) {
+    my @expandedcmd;
+
+    # loop through all the words in the command and expand synonyms. Might cause
+    # problems if objects are named the same as synonyms, for "look" commands etc.
+    @expandedcmd = gather for $syncmd.words {
+        when any %synonyms.keys {
+            take %synonyms{$_};
+        }
+        # well, it wasn't a synonym, so just return it.
+        take $_;
+    }
+
+    return @expandedcmd.join(" ");
+}
+
 multi MAIN() {
     say "CRYPT";
     say "=====";
@@ -1015,6 +1031,20 @@ multi MAIN() {
         up down in out
     >;
 
+    # command synonyms (object synonyms (e.g. "ball" and "old ball" for "the old
+    # red ball") should not go here)
+    my %synonyms = { "n"  => "north",
+                     "s"  => "south",
+                     "e"  => "east",
+                     "w"  => "west",
+                     "u"  => "up",
+                     "d"  => "down",
+                     "l"  => "look",
+                     "go" => "walk",
+                     "x"  => "examine",
+                    #"i"  => "inventory", inventory nyi
+                   };
+
     given 'clearing' {
         say .ucfirst;
         say "";
@@ -1035,6 +1065,8 @@ multi MAIN() {
             $command .= lc;
             $command .= trim;
 
+            $command = expand_cmd($command, %synonyms); # general synonym handler
+
             when /^help>>/|"h"|"?" {
                 say "Here are some (made-up) examples of commands you can use:";
                 say "";