Definition of
SOS
SOS is the name of a well-known distress signal that is used worldwide and that allows you to request help through some type of communication medium. It began to be used in the twentieth century Through the Morse codewhere it is transmitted as a string of three short pulses, three long pulses, and three short pulses again.
The expression is usually associated with phrases in English such as “Save Our Souls” (which translates as “Save our souls”) either “Save Or Succumb” (“Save us or we die”). This is because when someone issues a SOSneeds attendance immediately as it is in danger.
If a vessel faces a problem that puts your subsistence at risk, it is likely that your captain will need to send a SOS. In this way, when another ship receives the signal, it will go to provide help and, if necessary, to participate in the rescue of the crew members of the ship in difficulty. One of the most famous cases of the use of SOS it was the one of titanicwhich appealed to the signal after colliding with the iceberg that finally caused its collapse.
Until 1906, when the use of the SOS signal was approved at an international conference held in Berlin, it was used CQD (of English “Eat Quickly, Distress”what does it mean “Come Quick, Trouble”although at a technical level its true meaning is «Copy Quality, Distress»the first two words being a code general call
CQD was also used via morse code, but SOS is much easier to transmit, and that was one of the main reasons for its success. Similarly, since two of its three letters are the sameand that it is easier to remember and pronounce beyond the language from who sends or receives it, it is less likely to be misinterpreted.
This concept is used worldwide when it has the strict sense of call for help in an emergency situationbut, since in English it has other meanings of previous existence and that English-speaking people can understand the acronym with much more depth and closeness, since it alludes to expressions typical of their culture, they also tend to use it in everyday speech to refer to trivial situations in which someone needs aid desperately, even if these are not true emergencies.
For example, in the middle of a party, if a group of people is criticizing the physical appearance of the other guests, one way to use this acronym to make fun of a person could be the following: «Pablo has chosen the worst combination of cheap brands and colors for tonight; there is no SOS that can save«. In the same way, it can be used to describe desperate situations on the sentimental or work level, although it is not common outside of English-speaking countries.
Notably you are (in lower case) is a conjugation of the verb be. It is the second person singular, equivalent to are. For example: “Are you the brother of Santiago López? He hadn’t recognized you! He hadn’t seen you for many years.”, “If you are a football lover, you cannot miss tonight’s game”, “I don’t understand why you are like this”.
The use of this conjugation is common in certain Latin American countries, mainly in Argentina. On the contrary, in Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and Spain, for example, the arealthough in each zone there are exceptions and particular preferences, such as the fact that in Colombia the you in situations where other countries would normally resort to you.