# Some girl just told me that I have "an old soul". What the heack does that mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848 "2004-02-24T06:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/1 "2004-02-24T06:48:21Z")
I am not too clear. My response was somewhere along the lines of “Yeah baby, that’s, um, deep.” Best I can figure is that I gave this impression because I am smart and moody. Don’t know if that quite qualifies me for ‘old soul’ status. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/2 "2004-02-24T06:51:33Z")
My wild ass guess is that it means you’re intelligent and/or wise. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/3 "2004-02-24T06:55:17Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > My wild ass guess is that it means you’re intelligent and/or wise. But not wise enough to double check the spelling of my title. _hangs head in embaresment, emberesmant, emb… shame_ ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/4 "2004-02-24T06:56:08Z")
Uh, Maud’Dib, if I remember correctly, don’t you have every soul since Adam within you? I think she meant “old souls”. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/5 "2004-02-24T07:15:42Z")
> [@Muad'Dib](#): > > Some girl just told me that I have “an old soul”. What the heack does that mean? It means she watches _Everwood_. ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/6 "2004-02-24T07:20:03Z")
She’s impressed by your pocket watch. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/7 "2004-02-24T07:20:31Z")
She wants you. ---
**Author:** ![Reader99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Reader99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reader99)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/8 "2004-02-24T07:26:49Z")
she may be telling you she thinks you are spiritually advanced. or she may think you are the reincarnated spirit of someone else. either way, she most likely was paying you a compliment: [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0806627344/qid=1077607346/sr=1-1/ref=sr\_1\_1/102-2776262-2895350?v=glance&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0806627344/qid=1077607346/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-2776262-2895350?v=glance&s=books) [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684851938/qid=1077607346/sr=1-2/ref=sr\_1\_2/102-2776262-2895350?v=glance&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684851938/qid=1077607346/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-2776262-2895350?v=glance&s=books) ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/9 "2004-02-24T07:43:37Z")
Your shoes are so old that one is missing. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/10 "2004-02-24T07:45:13Z")
You’re soul is ratty and out of fashion. You need one of those flashy new souls all the kids have these days. Preferably something designer label, if you can afford it. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/11 "2004-02-24T08:06:47Z")
I’ve been told the same thing by more than one New Agey type. I assume it derives from the fact that I’m curmudgeonly and cynical, I have a very low tolerance for any chicanery or scammery, and that I empathize with characters like Harvey Pekar and Charles Bukowski. I generally reject pop culture out of hand, and I value philosophy more than New Age “spiritualism.” Course, the fact that I utterly reject New Age-ism means that my response to the “old soul” comment is usually rather terse and not very polite. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/12 "2004-02-24T08:13:06Z")
I meant to also post that my girlfriend is exactly like me in that regard. She has a friend who’s a head-in-the-clouds crystal-worshippin’ pyramid power chick. Upon learning that my girlfriend was a quilter (having made many of them over the last few years,) she told my gf that “You have such an old soul.” Her response? “Shut the fuck up, you loony bitch.” 🙂 They’re friends. They talk to each other like that. It bears mentioning that shortly thereafter, New Age girl signed up for a quilting class. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/13 "2004-02-24T08:38:39Z")
**Reader99** is close. “Old soul” is generally thought (by those of us who believe in such things) to mean one who has incarnated many times. Smart, moody yet logical people who are set in their ways are likely to be called that. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/14 "2004-02-24T08:49:49Z")
In my experience, it’s something teenagers say to other teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![Starguard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Starguard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starguard)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/15 "2004-02-24T09:26:47Z")
That’s strange 😕 I used to know this girl that for some reason, thought that I was Chinese and that my name was Haafuul. Everytime she saw me, she kept yelling **Hey Fool!!!** :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/16 "2004-02-24T13:14:51Z")
**Ogre** , tell your girlfriend that some stranger on a message board you post to, named Shit Bug or something, thinks she is so rad! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/17 "2004-02-24T13:19:21Z")
Heh. I remember once a girl told me I didn’t have a soul. It had to do with me not having any dreams (or none that I could remember upon waking up anyways), and her being wican. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/18 "2004-02-24T13:25:45Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I’ve been told the same thing by more than one New Agey type. I assume it derives from the fact that I’m curmudgeonly and cynical, I have a very low tolerance for any chicanery or scammery, and that I empathize with characters like Harvey Pekar and Charles Bukowski. I generally reject pop culture out of hand, and I value philosophy more than New Age “spiritualism.” > > Course, the fact that I utterly reject New Age-ism means that my response to the “old soul” comment is usually rather terse and not very polite. Yeah, yeah. Ogre TALKS a good game but I’m tired of him hiding behind this false persona on the internet. Last week, I tried to drag him out for anight of Bukowski-inspired debauchery and he keep insisting that I sit down on the couch until he was done reading his tea leaves, and then he said we weren’t going anywhere until did a tarot reading. I kept sneaking away and taking hits from my flask until I got so loaded that I took his runes and crashed through his coffee table, “DOMINO, MUTHAFUCKA!” style. Ogre then cried and said that the table was made from a Tree that was infused with Native American spirits and that they had all escaped. I left shortly after that. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/19 "2004-02-24T14:13:28Z")
This isn’t exclusively a New Age thing – actually, I think it predates the New Age movement. My mother’s family used it, and that’s before the sixties, at any rate. I don’t think it referred to reincarnation exactly, not the way they used it. I think it simply meant a soul that was already “old and wise” when the person was born. It was generally used to refer to children who were unusually mature and kind-hearted. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848/20 "2004-02-24T14:24:26Z")
Your toes are poking through your Nikes and your general shoe-aroma is managing to beat back the scent of the 55-gallon drum of cologne that you dumped on yourself before the date. Buy a new pair & bury the old pair. Deep. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-girl-just-told-me-that-i-have-an-old-soul-what-the-heack-does-that-mean/230848.md?page=2)