Comment on Word meaning health-related?

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AngryHippy@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

People are fixated on common usage because it’s common, and therefore, by definition, most likely to be unambiguously understood by the largest number of speakers.

The rest of this is in the spirit of modern linguistic nerdiness:

If there is a common word, it should be preferred over uncommon words simply for ease of communication. It is much more common in the English speaking world to say “a tour bus” for a bus that goes around a city near the sights to be seen, and while “a touristic bus” might be a perfectly acceptable synonym, it is less common.

The same holds for “salubrious”. While by dictionary standards it might be the best option, it isn’t that common, and most people would say “healthiness” or “wholesomeness” for salubridad and “sanitariness” or “healthfulness” for sanidad.

Source: USian immigrant to Spain married to a filología inglesa / translator

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