The maritime distress signal SOS is an acronym meaning 'Save Our Souls' or 'Save Our Ship.'
SOS has no inherent meaning; it was selected in 1905 by German radio operators specifically because its Morse code representation (dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot) is instantly recognizable and unambiguous in radio transmission. The letters spell nothing meaningful, the acronym interpretation was post-hoc folk etymology. SOS's visual/auditory distinctiveness in Morse made it ideal for emergency signaling, and it became standardized at an international conference in Berlin. The false 'Save Our Souls' interpretation spread retroactively through popular culture and maritime lore. This illustrates how humans impose meaning onto arbitrary symbols, then forget the true origin and accept the invented narrative as historical fact. Unlike most acronyms, SOS preceded any meaningful phrase it might represent.