What does SOS mean?

Answer 1

SOS means 'Save Our Soul'. This is used in various ways e.g. while a ship/Boat etc. is sinking in the sea they start firing crackers in the air that burst in the sky very high so that some passing by ship etc. can see and send some help.

another example is n case of medicines when doctor says take this medicine as SOS i.e. when pain is unbearable you can take that medicine otherwise dont take that medicine.

CA. Rajeev Jain

Answer 2

At the second Berlin Radiotelegraphic Conference 1906, the subject of a danger signal was again addressed. Considerable discussion ensued and finally SOS was adopted. The thinking was that three dots, three dashes and three dots could not be misinterpreted. It was to be sent together as one string.

The Marconi Yearbook of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony , 1918 states, "This signal [SOS] was adopted simply on account of its easy radiation and its unmistakable character. There is no special signification in the letter themselves, and it is entirely incorrect to put full stops between them [the letters]." All the popular interpretations of "SOS," "Save or Ship," "Save Our Souls," or "Send Out Succour" are simply not valid. Stations hearing this distress call were to immediately cease handling traffic until the emergency was over and were likewise bound to answer the distress signal.

Answer 3

In Morse Code, the only letters represented by three identical marks are O (three dashes) and S (three dots). The committee toyed with OSO, but dashes are longer electrical signals to transmit than dots. An urgent message needed to be broadcast as quickly as possible and use as little power as possible, and so SOS became international standard.

Answer 4

It means 'Save Our Souls'. It is transmitted over radio from a ship to other ships and military bases when it is sinking. But that has got nothing to do with business and finance! There might be some other definition in business.

Answer 5

Common belief is that SOS stands for "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls" or "Stop Other Signals" or "Stomp Out Stupidity" or "Sale on Socks." (Not really, I made those last two up.) In fact, SOS in not an acronym and it doesn't represent anything at all.

Samuel Morse devised his telegraph code in 1835, using combinations of dots and dashes that he thought would be easy to memorize. The first distress signal was CQD, the "CQ" for a general notice that a message is coming, and "D" for "danger" or "distress." However, this was cumbersome. In Morse Code, CQD was: -.-. --.- -..

So CQD was dropped.

In 1908, an international committee tried to come up with a distress signal that would be easy to remember during a crisis, and could be transmitted by an amateur with only rudimentary knowledge of Morse Code. They decided a simple combination of threes: three letters, each represented by three marks, since three is a universally favored number. Well, at least in Western cultures.

In Morse Code, the only letters represented by three identical marks are O (three dashes) and S (three dots). The committee toyed with OSO, but dashes are longer electrical signals to transmit than dots. An urgent message needed to be broadcast as quickly as possible and use as little power as possible, and so SOS became international standard.

During WWII, the signal "SSS" was adopted when the source of the emergency was a submarine attack, presumably so that potential rescue ships would know there was an enemy sub in the area.

In 1917, Edwin Cox of San Francisco dipped a small square steel-wool pad into a soap solution, and let it dry, and found this product sold well to housewives. His wife referred to the pads as "S.O.S" for "Save Our Saucepans" believing (incorrectly) that the universal distress signal SOS meant "Save Our Ships." Mr Cox took on S.O.S (with the periods) as the name of his new product. The distress signal SOS has no periods in it, for obvious telegraphic reasons.

--SDSTAFF Dex
Straight Dope Science Advisory Board

Answer 6

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/search.aspx?q=SOS

its an international distress signal. some think it means Save our Souls, other Save our Ship, but there is no official full form
it is morse code and it is the simplest to write in. the morse code is
dot dash dot
easy, eh?

Answer 7

Save Our Souls

Answer 8

Save Our Ship. In the old days It was a distress call (smoke signal, among other means or communicating) We need help. Basically the ship is sinking and the passengers need help.

Answer 9

SAVE OUR SOULS

its a distress signal. initial used by shipwrecked sailors at sea, to call for help. Now used by anyone caught in an emergency

Answer 10

Call for help. An international radio signal that ships or aircraft in serious distress can use to call for help.