2007-03-12 19:12:48 · 8 answers · asked by jov 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
"Et al." is Latin: it's an abbreviation for "et alia" which means "and the rest." "Et" is a whole word so it doesn't take a period. "Al." is the abbreviation for "alia," so it does take a period. Since it's Latin, it should be italicized or underscored.
S.O.S. is a Morse maritime distress code. The letters don't stand for anything, actually, but it helps to remember its meaning by associating it with "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls." It's like CQ, the letters of which don't stand for anything, but the meaning of which is "general call to all stations."
2007-03-13 04:20:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it means Save Our Souls...its a distress call that could be sent via Morse code. By sending it as simply S O S, the distress call can be sent out quicker. The abbreviation et. al. is from Latin. It is used when writing a document that contains material from another source (for example a book or mag). The other material must be acknowledged as being written by another author rather than you (otherwise you are guilty of plagiarism). But sometimes there are many authors for the one source, so some people write the first author's name (for example Brown), then just right et. al. afterward (which means 'and the others'). it saves time and typing.
2007-03-13 02:21:40 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe you mean et. al, which means (if you translate Latin to English) "and others."
SOS typically means "someone special" but it can also be a distress signal, like if you were stranded on an island without a boat, you could spell those letters out in the sand and hope a plane sees you.
Got any more for me? I love these kinds of questions, just little bitty puzzles to be solved, yay!
2007-03-13 02:21:53 · answer #3 · answered by collegebutterfly73 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The possibilities are endless for AT but et commonly refers to Extra Terrestrial. SOS means MayDay.. its the logging abbreviation. It does not mean save our ships/souls. AT could be Automated Transmission.
2007-03-13 02:23:01 · answer #4 · answered by oneblondepilgrim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
et al is usually found in references on a piece of written work. As far as I know it is Latin and means and others. SOS is the internationally known distress signal and means save our souls.
2007-03-13 04:39:08 · answer #5 · answered by jemima 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'll find over 160 meanings for SOS on Acronym Finder.
http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=sos&Find=find&string=exact
You're bound to find any others you need there as well. They have more acronyms and abbreivations than anywhere else.
2007-03-13 15:29:21 · answer #6 · answered by Susan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
SOS is a mayday call used by ships. It actually means "Save Our Ship".
2007-03-13 02:37:44 · answer #7 · answered by goldleader15 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
et could mean, elapsed time, at has many possible meanings including access time, and sos means mayday
2007-03-13 02:18:27 · answer #8 · answered by R.S. 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋