··· · −· −·· / ···· · ·−·· ·−−·
"Send Help" in Morse code is ··· · −· −·· / ···· · ·−·· ·−−·.
Leave a short gap between letters and a longer gap between words. In writing, letters are separated by a space and words by a slash. At standard timing a dot lasts one unit, a dash three units, the gap inside a letter one unit, the gap between letters three units and the gap between words seven. "Send Help" takes 71 units, about 4.3 seconds at a speed of 20 words per minute.
Meaning: Morse code for "Send Help" (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
Letter by letter: S is ···, E is ·, N is −·, D is −··, H is ····, L is ·−·· and P is ·−−·.
How do you pronounce it?
di-di-dit dit dah-dit dah-di-dit / di-di-di-dit dit di-dah-di-dit di-dah-dah-dit
What mistakes should you avoid?
Keep the gaps between letters. Without them, S ··· can be read as E and I · ··, which changes the message.
When do people say it?
SOS is sent as one unbroken signal, ···−−−···, without the usual gaps between letters. It was adopted as the distress signal in 1906 because it is easy to send and hard to mistake.
Did you know?
- Morse code can be sent with anything that turns on and off: a flashlight, a ship's signal lamp, a tapping finger or a blinking eye.
- Experienced operators hear whole words as rhythms instead of counting dots and dashes, the way a reader sees words instead of letters.
