Healthful versus healthy

   Here are the main or primary meanings of "healthful" and "healthy" according to Merriam-Webster.


Healthful
1 : beneficial to health of body or mind

Healthy
1 : enjoying health and vigor of body, mind, or spirit

   Have you noticed though that many people refuse to use the word "healthful"? They say calcium is "healthy" in the diet when what they mean is that it is "healthful" according to the dictionary.

   It seems the dictionary definitions are being ignored as if they need revision. Maybe "healthful" should mean being alive, or "full" of health, instead of being beneficial to health of living things.

   Notice however that there are other uses of -ful where the thing described is not experiencing what it causes in others. Things that are dreadful, stressful, or harmful suffer no dread, stress, or harm. They cause those things in others. Things that are delightful or restful experience no delight or rest themselves. They cause those things in others.

   What word then should be used for things that experience no health themselves but contribute to health in others? By everything said here and in accordance with dictionaries, that word should be "healthful."

   Notice also that the "switch" never happened. No one uses "healthful" to describe themselves or other living things. In those rare cases when it is used it is in fact used as the dictionary says.

   Therefore when people use "healthy" to describe something that is not in fact living they are excluding a useful term for things that are not in fact living. Their attempt at precision is not working and they only have one word for two very different meanings.

   The possessed person in The Exorcist III was noted for using two letter l's at the end of words ending in -ful instead of the one letter that is correct. He wrote, "It's a Wonderfull Life."

   Dictionaries and myself by their side do our best to make words useful. That is the prime directive, usefulness. There is no search for "rules" nor is there an effort to impose analogies that serve no purpose. When you have two very distinct meanings, you should use two different words.  I did use analogous words ending in -ful, but only for illustration.  I am not imposing them.

   You might also notice that if you search far enough you can find that dictionaries accept other definitions of these words. Of course you can use them, but to what avail? It doesn't really facilitate communication well in many of those cases.

   "I worked out at the gym, stuck to a diet, and I am really healthful now," said no one ever.