SOS Meaning, Definition, and What It Stands For

SOS is an abbreviation that appears in books, TV shows, films, and songs, but what does it mean?

An SOS is an internationally recognized distress signal mostly used by ships at sea to call for help. You might think the letters SOS must mean save our ship, but that’s not actually the case.

In this article, we’ll discuss the SOS meaning and provide some examples of how to use it in your writing.

What Does SOS Mean?

Now that we know SOS is used in distress signals, we can look deeper into the meaning and what the letters actually stand for.

What Does SOS Stand For in Text?

Originally, the abbreviation SOS was used to communicate a distress signal via morse code, but its use has changed, and it’s now used as an acronym.

In modern times, SOS was understood to have several meanings, such as save our souls, save our ship, or (as my Nan put it) save our sausages. However, the individual letters never actually had any meaning.

What Does SOS Stand For in Morse Code?

Morse code is an internationally recognized alphabet of dots and dashes that represent numbers and letters, which is used by Morse code operators to send and receive coded messages quickly.

An SOS signal is a Morse code sequence made up of three dots (S), three dashes (O), and three dots (S).

The History of the SOS Acronym

Now that we know the modern meaning of the SOS acronym, we can go back and look at where the term SOS originally came from.

When maritime operators around the world were trying to decide on a sequence that ships could use to signal distress, they considered several options, including “NC” (U.S. Navy), “CQD” (Marconi Company), and “...---...” (Germany).

However, there were concerns that operators would get confused by the different signals ships were using. Eventually, communication officials agreed on a universal signal to prevent confusion.

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Officials chose the Morse sequence used by Germany (...---...) because it’s quick and easy for operators to communicate. As three dots means “S” and three dashes means “O,” operators referred to the sequence as “SOS.”

Examples of How to Use SOS Abbreviation

Here are some examples of ways you can use the SOS abbreviation in a sentence in your writing:

• The situation was dire, and John knew he’d have to send an SOS signal if he wanted to be saved.

• Kelly read the SOS message on her phone and knew she had to rush if she was going to help her friend out of the blind date from hell.

• “Do you want me to send an SOS?” Lee asked as they watched their boat fill up with seawater.

Remember, when you see an SOS message, it means someone is in distress and needs help. No matter what you think the letters mean, the reaction to an SOS signal should always be an urgent move to help the person sending it.