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SOS
09/24/08
What is the origin
of this acronym?
The abbreviation
SOS
comes from
a distress
signal represented by the Morse
code (· · · — — — · · ·
), in the early
1900s.
It
was a telegraphic signal used by
ships announcing
trouble, danger or adversity. It
was first adopted
by the German government in 1905 and became part of
the International
Radiotelegraphic Convention in 1906.
This
continuos sequence of signs (three-dits/three-dashes/three-dits), without
spacing, was selected for
being easily recognizable and easy to hear even in a noisy
environment.
Now
- why do we know it as SOS?
Because in International Morse
code, three
dots (or "dits", as
they're called in Morse) form the letter S, and three dashes
make the letter O.
In
popular usage, the letters have been associated
to the
phrases "Save Our Ship" and "Save Our
Souls".
Listen
to the SOS Morse
code:
· ·
· — — — · · ·
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