Everybody knows that SOS is a distress signal but do you know what it exactly means? Contrary to popular belief that it is an abbreviation for 'Save Our Ships' or 'Save Our Souls,' it is an international Morse code distress signal. 'Save our ship' and 'save our souls' are merely backronyms, and the three letters do not stand for anything.
In fact, the code isn’t even supposed to be three individual letters, but a string of three dots, three dashes and three dots that run without any spaces and full stops. Since continuous three dots in the International Morse code refer to the alphabetical letter “S” and three uninterrupted dashes mean the letter “O,” the distress signal came to be known as the SOS signal. From there, the abbreviation became popular as a visual distress signal, with those in need of rescue spelling it out on the ground to be observed from above.
(Image Courtesy: White Star Liner - Remembering Titanic)
In case you are curious, Morse code is a method of communicating text information via on and off lights, tones or click, easily understandable by listener without any special equipment. Named after Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph, the method uses dots and dashes to encode a message so that it can be easily transferred between distant points. While dashes are vocalized as “dahs”, dots are vocalized as “dits”.
(Image Courtesy: OTA Survival School)
The distress signal came into being when wireless radiotelegraph machines were first taken on ships in the early 20th century, the crew in danger needed a quick way to ask for help. The unique signal, which could be transferred easily and wouldn’t be confused with other communication, was first regulated by Germany in 1905, requiring all distressed ships in the sea to ask for help using the signal. Then an international conference held a couple of years later where several countries unanimously picked it as the international distress signal. For the past century, the SOS signal has saved countless lives, not just in the sea, but otherwise as well.
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