# S.O.S.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-o-s/31545>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 31, 2000, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-o-s/31545 "2000-08-31T20:39:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-o-s/31545/1 "2000-08-31T20:39:01Z")

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I see nothing has changed in my absence. Carry on. TTFN (ta ta for now)…

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**Author:** ![Tymp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tymp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tymp)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-o-s/31545/2 "2000-08-31T21:00:00Z")

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Ah . . .yeah, man. Um . . . who the fuck are you?

Thanks for droppin’ in. Buh-bye.

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**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-o-s/31545/3 "2000-08-31T21:01:56Z")

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“SOS”, or more precisely, the Morse code character string …—… was first adopted as a nautical distress signal by Germany, effective April 1, 1905. See: [Regelung der Funkentelegraphie im Deutschen Reich](http://www.ipass.net/~whitetho/1905funk.htm) for more details.

It was adopted internationally at the 1906 Berlin Wireless Convention, which was signed on November 3, 1906, with an effective date of July 1, 1908. See Regulation XVI of the the [SERVICE REGULATIONS ANNEXED TO THE INTERNATIONAL WIRELESS TELEGRAPH CONVENTION](http://www.ipass.net/~whitetho/1906conv.htm) for more details.

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**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-o-s/31545/4 "2000-08-31T22:15:21Z")

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Heh.

And I thought I was a smart-ass.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-o-s/31545/5 "2000-09-01T04:22:56Z")

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I’m moving this thread to…the annals of history.  
Or in other words, it’s lock-up time. 🙂