“SOS.” You know it’s a distress signal, but what does it actually stand for? A lot of people think it’s an abbreviation for “save our souls” or “save our ship.” But in reality, “save our souls” and “save our ship” are backronyms, and the letters don’t actually stand for anything.
In fact, the signal isn’t even really supposed to be three individual letters. It’s just a continuous Morse code string of three dots, three dashes, and three dots all run together with no spaces or full stops (…—…). Since three dots form the letter “S” and three dashes form an “O” in International Morse Code, though, the signal came to be called an “SOS” for the sake of convenience. That connection has led to the letters coming into their own as a visual distress signal divorced from Morse code, and those in need of rescue sometimes spell them out on the ground to be seen from above.
You could also break down the string into the Morse code equivalents of IJS, SMB and VTB if you wanted to.
The Logic Behind “SOS”
So why use that specific string of dots and dashes if there’s no meaning to it? Because it was the best way to get the job done.
When wireless radiotelegraph machines first made their way onto ships around the turn of the 20th century, sailors in danger needed a way to attract attention, signal distress, and ask for help. They needed a unique signal that would transmit clearly and quickly and wouldn’t be confused for other communications. At first, different organizations and countries had their own “in-house” distress signals. The U.S. Navy used “NC,” which was the maritime flag signal for distress from the International Code of Signals. The Marconi Company, which leased its equipment and telegraph operators to various ships, used “CQD.” The “German Regulations for the Control of Spark Telegraphy” of 1905 mandated that all German operators use “…—…”.
Having these multiple distress signals was confusing and potentially dangerous. It meant that a ship in distress in foreign waters had a language barrier to overcome with would-be rescuers, even if using International Morse Code. Because of this and other issues, various countries decided to get together and discuss the idea of laying down some international regulations for radiotelegraph communications. In 1906, the International Wireless Telegraph Convention convened in Berlin, and delegates attempted to establish an international standard distress call. Marconi’s “-.-.–.–..”, and “………-..-..-..” (“SSSDDD”), which Italy had proposed at a previous conference, were deemed too cumbersome. Germany’s “…—…”, though, could be sent quickly and easily and was hard to misinterpret. It was chosen as the international distress signal for the nations who met at the conference, and went into effect on July 1, 1908.
Getting on Board with “SOS”
The first recorded use of “SOS” as a distress signal occurred just over a year later, in August 1909. The wireless operators on the S.S. Arapahoe sent the signal when the ship was disabled by a broken propeller off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Not everyone got on board with the new standard as quickly, though. The Marconi Company was particularly reluctant to give up on “CQD.” The Marconi operators on board the Titanic initially just sent that signal after the ship struck an iceberg, until another operator suggested they try the new “SOS” signal, too.
Source- https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31911/what-does-sos-stand
What SOS Stands For and Where It Came From
Nope, it’s not “save our ship.” Not even close.
“Save Our Ship!”
“Save Our Souls!”
“Save On Socks (at Sal’s Irregular Sock Emporium)!”
Technically “SOS,” doesn’t officially stand for any of these phrases. It’s the international abbreviation for distress—not to be confused with an acronym (see acronym vs. abbreviation for the difference and maybe brush up on some acronym examples for more clarity.) Best known for its appearances in desert island cartoons, maritime movies, and earworms by ABBA and Rihanna, the letters SOS have been used as a code for emergency since 1905. But what is the SOS meaning, actually? The answer, dear readers, is nothing—and that’s exactly why it’s important.
Where does the term SOS come from?
Unlike WD-40, CVS, and TASER, SOS is not even an acronym: It’s a Morse code sequence, deliberately introduced by the German government in a 1905 set of radio regulations to stand out from less important telegraph transmissions. Translated to Morse code, SOS looks like this:
“. . . – – – . . .”
Three dots, three dashes, three dots. At a time when international ships increasingly filled the seas, and Morse code was the only way to communicate instantaneously between them, vessels needed a quick and unmistakable way to signal that trouble was afoot. At first, different nations used different codes. Britain, for example, favored CQD; as the Titanic sank into the ocean in April 1912, it broadcast a mix of CQD and SOS calls (the resulting confusion helped take CQD out of use for good).
The sequence of triplet dots and dashes proposed by the German government soon became the international favorite for its elegant simplicity. Transmitted without pause and repeated every few seconds, the SOS meaning was unmistakable, specifically because it didn’t form any known word or abbreviation.
There was also a visual appeal. While the same series of dots and dashes could also just as easily translate to the Morse code sequences for VTB, SMB, and others, SOS had an instantly recognizable symmetry. Not only is SOS a palindrome word (a word that reads the same backward and forwards, like civic, deified, etc.,) it’s also an ambigram, a word that looks identical whether read upside-down or right-side-up. When carved into a snowbank, say, or spelled out in boulders on a beach, SOS still looks like SOS no matter which way the rescue chopper approaches.
Why was SOS chosen as a distress signal?
By 1908, the triple dot-dash-dot code became the official international radio distress signal and remained that way until 1999, when Morse code was declared all but dead. Today, a ship can signal distress with the touch of a button, the lift of a phone, or a call over radio waves, but the SOS message will likely continue to endure as a backup distress call.
Now that you know the SOS meaning, keep the knowledge coming in and learn why pounds is abbreviated to lbs.
Source- https://www.rd.com/article/sos-meaning/
Comments