Morse code is made up of dots and dashes. How did telegraph operators keep from losing track of where one letter ended and another began?

Question

In the movies, morse code comes through so fast it’s hard to tell a dot from a dash. Hoe did they keep from getting lost?

In: 1001

Answer 1

Like any language, if you are not used to hearing it, it sounds like jiberish. But once you learn it, it makes sense. There is a space between the dit and da in Morse code but at speed, you need a trained ear to hear it. Once you learn code, it is more like listening to music. Some words and phrases are repeated so often that it sounds like the entire word instead of each letter.

So experienced code guys can listen at 25 or 30 words per minute as well as transmit. It just takes alot of practice. I know these kind of guys and I’m an in pure amazement of what they can do. But they use it daily.