Istarted my marine career as a wireless operator. An upcoming 'sparker', as we were fondly called by other seamen, one of the first subjects they taught me at maritime school was how to react to safety problems and, in particular, when yours or another ship was in distress. Obviously, it was the sparker's task to radio for help, which in those times consisted of Morse-code message starting with SOS (in Morse:...—...). Asked by our instructor, a blunt WW2 British Navy veteran, what does SOS mean, remembering some of the sea-lore books I read, I answered: "Save our souls." "F**k your souls" said the guy,"it's save our ship!"
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