# SOS in Morse code

**SOS in Morse code is "... --- ...". It is 3 characters made of 6 dots and 3 dashes, and takes about 1.6 seconds to send at 20 words per minute.**

*By Can Türk (https://iamcanturk.dev), MorseForge.*

*Source: https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/sos/*

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## What it means

SOS does not stand for anything. It was adopted in 1906 because its unbroken run of dots, dashes and dots is hard to mistake for anything else and easy to send under stress. "Save Our Souls" was invented afterwards to explain letters that were never an abbreviation. This page plays SOS letter by letter, with the usual gap between letters, which takes about 1.6 seconds at 20 words per minute. On the air it is sent run together as one prosign, "...---...", with no gaps between the letters, which takes about 1.4 seconds.

## Letter by letter

| Character | Code | Spoken |
| --- | --- | --- |
| S | `...` | di-di-dit |
| O | `---` | dah-dah-dah |
| S | `...` | di-di-dit |

A space separates letters and a slash separates words.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is SOS in Morse code?

SOS in Morse code is "... --- ...". SOS does not stand for anything. It was adopted in 1906 because its unbroken run of dots, dashes and dots is hard to mistake for anything else and easy to send under stress. "Save Our Souls" was invented afterwards to explain letters that were never an abbreviation.

### How long does it take to send SOS in Morse code?

At 20 words per minute, SOS takes about 1.6 seconds to send. That counts its 6 dots and 3 dashes plus the silences between them, timed by the PARIS standard, in which one unit, the length of a dot, is 60 milliseconds at that speed. Sent the way operators send it, run together as one prosign with no gaps between the letters, it takes about 1.4 seconds.

## Related words: Emergency

- [Help](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/help/)
- [Mayday](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/mayday/)

## More

- [Every word in Morse code](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/words/)
- [The Morse code alphabet](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/morse-code-alphabet/)
- [Translate your own text](https://morse.iamcanturk.dev/morse-code-translator/)