For example, E is the most frequent letter, so it’s encoded in the simplest and shortest signal — a dot. Whereas for encoding X or Z, you need combinations of 2 dots or 2 dashes. Such encoding helps to memorize the Morse code and the signals become simpler.

The picture above shows the international Morse code for the Latin alphabet.

To speed up the process of sending information, some words or phrases are abbreviated. For example, TU in English is “Thank you.” There are numbers that stand for things as well, like 88, which is “love and kisses.” There are also Q-codes. These are international codes starting with Q and containing only 3 symbols, but they might mean long sentences. For example, QTC means “I have ____ telegrams for you (or for ____).”

Despite the popular opinion, SOS is not an abbreviation or an acronym. It’s just the longest Morse code letter containing 9 symbols. So this sequence is transmitted without any spaces between the letters.

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