Do we really need the word 'healthful'? what does it convey that 'healthy' doesn't?
'tea is a healthful food'
I keep on coming across it and it irks me about as much as my waiter asking if I am 'still working on that plate'
ta
2
hello_bamboo
yes bjd, 'wellness' for me sits in the same category, i had almost mentioned it as well in my OP.
3
toot
"wellness" is well used in Central Europe, particularly Hungary, to represent those institutions which attempt to encourage a healthful life... here
4
vinnyd
#3 -- I think that use of wellness started in Germany. I could be wrong.
OP, if I'm not mistaken, nutraxfornerves objects to the use of "healthy" in sentences like your example, insisting on "healthful".
(And she may object to tea being called a food rather than a drink. I think I do.)
5
hello_bamboo
(And she may object to tea being called a food rather than a drink. I think I do.)
yes, you're right. It's because I was reading an article about 'superfoods' and tea was listed as one of them. I had wanted to edit it but by that time bjd had already responded, locking the OP...
6
hello_bamboo
Vinny, according to Wikipedia 'wellness' originates in the US...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellness_%28alternative_medicine%29
7
vinnyd
Thanks, MTL. I think the word is now more popular in Germany than in the US though. At least as something to put into the name of your establishment.
"Wellness" with the language restricted to German gets 11,200,000 Google hits.
8
nutraxfornerves
Aaaaaah! One of my pet peeves.
Healthy is the state of being in good health. I am not sick, I am healthy.
+Healthful" is something that promotes health & well-being. Merriam Webster says "beneficial to health of body or mind"
But, it's probably a losing cause. "Healthy" in the sense of promoting heath has been cited since the 16th C. so maybe I'm just being a stickler.
9
nutraxfornerves
Well, well, and well. According to several sources, the distinction between "healthy" and "healthful" was something invented by Alfred Ayres (pen name of Thomas Embly Osmun) in 1881, in a little number called
THE VERBALIST
A MANUAL
DEVOTED
TO BRIEF DISCUSSIONS OF THE RIGHT AND THE WRONG USE OF WORDS
AND
TO SOME OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THOSE WHO WOULD SPEAK AND WRITE WITH PROPRIETY
HIs big deal was correct pronunciation of words. He taught elocution & drama, among other things.
Healthy—Wholesome. The first of these two words is often improperly used for the second; as, " Onions are a healthy+ vegetable." A man, if he is in good health, is +healthy;+ the food he eats, if it is not deleterious, is +wholesome.+ A +healthy+ ox makes +wholesome+ food. We speak of +healthy+ surroundings, a +healthy+ climate, situation, employment, and of +wholesome+ food, advice, examples. +Healthful+ is generally used in the sense of conducive to +health,+ virtue, morality ; as, +healthful exercise, the healthful spirit of the community—meaning that the spirit that prevails in the community is conducive to virtue and good morals.
I now retire to my cave.
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