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I got soul

Posted by ESC on August 06, 2007

In Reply to: I got soul posted by ESC on August 06, 2007

: : What does "I got soul" mean?

It means you have the following:

: Soul - "The essense of life; feeling, passion, emotional depth - all of which are believed to be derived from struggle, suffering and having participated in the Black Experience. Having risen above the suffering, the person gains 'soul.'" From Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner by Geneva Smitherman (Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, N.Y., 1994. Page 211.

Soul (1962, meaning of, by, or for African Americans and their unique feelings and attitudes, from the 1950s term 'soul music') took on a new significance, giving rise to 'soul food' ('down home' food...), 'soul brother' (a fellow black), and 'soul food restaurants.'"
From "Speaking Freely: A Guided Tour of American English from Plymouth Rock to Silicon Valley" by Stuart Berg Flexner and Anne H. Soukhanov (Oxford University Press, New York, 1997). Page 17.

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