Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I feel good today.

WAIT, some of you are yelling at your speakers, phones, radios, however you’re listening—you can’t feel good! You must feel well! To which I say: I feel good, and I feel well. It’s sunny outside, and I’m healthy, minus some sniffles, which is more than I can say for the rest of campus. Now you’re probably wondering: What’s the difference?

Here’s the key: Nobody knows. You’ve probably heard that “good” is an adjective meaning that it modifies a noun, but actually “good” has been used as an adverb for … well, a really long time, according to that grandfather of all sources, Merriam Webster. A sort of convention or unofficial rule has been made up to decide the question. If you say “I feel good,” you’re probably talking about emotional wellbeing. If you say “I feel well,” you’re talking about physical wellbeing.

Why?

I have absolutely no idea.

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