People Are Surprised to Find Out What SOS Actually Means

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**People Are Surprised to Find Out What “SOS” Actually Means**

Few signals in human history are as instantly recognizable as three short bursts, three long bursts, and three short bursts again. Tap it on a wall. Flash it with a light. Transmit it over a radio. Even people who know nothing about Morse code can usually recognize **SOS** as a cry for help.

But here’s the twist: despite what many of us were taught in school, in movies, or by well-meaning adults, **SOS does *not* stand for “Save Our Souls,” “Save Our Ship,” or “Send Out Supplies.”**

So what does it actually mean?
Short answer: **nothing at all.**
Long answer: that’s exactly why it’s so brilliant.

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## The Myth That Refuses to Sink

Ask a group of people what SOS means, and most will confidently tell you one of the popular expansions:

* Save Our Souls
* Save Our Ship
* Save Our Sailors
* Someone Overboard, Save!

These phrases sound logical, dramatic, and emotionally fitting—perfect for distress situations. The problem is that **none of them are historically accurate**.

These interpretations came *after* SOS was already in use. Humans love meaning, especially poetic meaning, and we tend to reverse-engineer explanations for things that feel symbolic. SOS became so widely recognized as a distress signal that people naturally assumed it *must* be an acronym.

It isn’t.

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## SOS Was Chosen Because It’s Easy, Not Because It’s Meaningful

SOS originated in the early 20th century as a **Morse code distress signal**, officially adopted in 1905 by the German government and internationally standardized in 1908.

In Morse code:

* **S** = `···` (three dots)
* **O** = `–––` (three dashes)

So SOS is:
**`··· ––– ···`**

This pattern has several crucial advantages:
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