SOS
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Translingual
Text style | Emoji style |
---|---|
🆘︎ | 🆘️ |
Note: Character's appearance may be different on each system. Text style is forced with ︎ and emoji style with ️ |
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɛsoːˈʔɛs]
Etymology 1
Chosen because its Morse code sequence (...---...) was easy to remember and recognize even through interference. Many mnemonics and backronyms were later formed from the sequence.
Usage notes
The code SOS is normally only used in text transmission; for voice communication, mayday is used. The sequence is normally transmitted run together without any letter spacing in between, so it is technically a single unique code rather than a series of three letters.
Synonyms
See also
English
Etymology 1
From the letters represented by the signal, chosen as a sequence that is easy to recall and transmit (· · · — — — · · ·); it is not, as is commonly believed, an abbreviation for "save our souls", "save our ship", or any other phrase.
Noun
- The conventional Morse code call made by a ship in distress.
- The crew sent a frantic SOS as they realised the scale of the disaster.
- 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
- "Look at wireless. Look at the S. O. S. call at sea. Is that not a benefit to mankind?"
Phrase
SOS
Noun
SOS (uncountable)
See also
Japanese
Pronunciation
Noun
SOS • (esuōesu)
Swedish
Etymology 2

Abbreviation of smör, ost, sill (“butter, cheese, herring”).
Etymology 3
Abbreviation of Sveriges officiella statistik (“Sweden's official statistic”).
Noun
SOS ?
- a particular collection of systems and processes that produce official statistics about Sweden
Etymology 4
Abbreviation of Södersjukhuset.