As I browsed Amazon yesterday for a new pair of slippers (because as a writer/proofreader/stay-at-home mom, I go through slippers faster than shoes), a description for a pair of slippers with “rubber souls” caught my proofreader’s eye.
In this context, the word soul was clearly misused; it should have been sole.
- Soul refers to a spiritual, life-giving essence. It may also mean a person or a fervent force.
Examples:
God gives every person a soul that lives forever.
That man is a happy soul.
She played the music passionately, with obvious soul.
- Sole has several definitions and may refer to a type of fish, to the bottom of feet or footwear, or it may mean single or only.
Examples:
Sole is a type of flatfish that I enjoy eating.
Gum stuck to the sole of my shoe.
You are the sole reason I came here today.
So if I was reading literally, believing those slippers really had rubber souls, that’s an odder pair of footwear than I would like to own. (And I didn’t end up buying them.)
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