can't call (one's) soul (one's) own
can't call (one's) soul (one's) own
Spends most of one's time working for others. Now that I've started working overtime four days a week, I really can't call my soul my own.
See also: call, own, soul
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
can't call one's soul one's own
Fig. working for other people all the time. Jane has to work two jobs and take care of both her aging parents. She can't call her soul her own. Between supporting his family and working off his brother's bad debts, Bob really can't call his soul his own.
See also: call, own, soul
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
can't call one's soul one's own
To be very much in debt or bondage to another; to have lost one’s independence. This turn of phrase dates from the sixteenth century and has been repeated ever since. In Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop (1841, Chapter 4), “She daren’t call her soul her own” is said of Mrs. Quilp, wife of the tyrannical dwarf, Daniel.
See also: call, own, soul
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- can't call one's soul one's own
- can't call soul own
- on call
- Could I have call you?
- Can I have (one) call you?
- call in (one's) marker
- marker
- a wake-up call
- wake-up call
- call time on something