Keep body and soul together

Origin

The phrase plays on the fundamental human understanding of life as the delicate union of the physical body and the spiritual soul. To 'keep body and soul together' literally means to maintain this fragile bond, to stay alive. This evocative expression gained significant traction in the English language, becoming particularly common by the 17th century. It was a time when economic hardship was widespread, and daily survival was often a precarious affair for many. The phrase vividly captured the desperate struggle to acquire just enough sustenance—food, shelter, warmth—to prevent the body from giving up and the soul from departing, symbolizing the absolute minimum required to stave off death and destitution.