Souls

[Pootle]

Why are "souls lost" at sea but people just die on land?

[palfreyman18]

i guess it might be to do with the fact that the sea is full of mysteries and nobody can find the bodies, or, souls might not find their way out of the sea. Just guessing

[andy hughes]

I think the notion of burial allows the departed soul to move on, but a body lost at sea and unclaimed, means that the soul is 'lost' with the body - at sea.

[brachiopod]

I thought it was just an old-fashioned term for 'person' or 'persons' in a general sense rather than any spiritual sense..

As in "Old King Cole was a merry old soul"

And that because of the great history and tradition behind all things nautical, it is still used today in a maritime context.

[Ouisch]

Not just at sea...in airline parlance, they often refer to the number of "SOB" - souls on board.