Two Words Even More Irritating Than "Wintry Mix"

Has there ever been a more specious phrase than "soul mate"?

Smacking of provincial fatalism, it combines, in equally absurd spoonfuls, hothouse teenage drama ("Now and forever, Thad, we are soul mates!") and desperate religious justification ("A higher power has blessed us each with a soul...each of which has but a single, perfect mate!"). The reality of the "soul" is, of course, as patently absurd as any of the poorly written parables and lessons found in your local hotel room's night table.

The intellectually honest will readily admit that no matter how fine the state of their marriage or partnership, there's a lovely person in Dubuque, Iowa, Quebec City, Canada, or Damascus, Syria with whom they are at least as compatible.