For good

For good

If something happens “for good,” guess what? It’s not about good or bad. If you hear that something is happening “for good,” it means it’s happening permanently—forever. This phrase doesn’t actually have anything to do with the idea of “good” or “bad.” Instead, it’s about how long something lasts.

Permanently closed

If you say something happens or is “for good,” that means it’s permanent. It’s not temporary.

Let me ask you a question. If someone tells you, “That restaurant is closed.” What does that mean? Does it mean that it closed earlier in the day and the restaurant will reopen in the morning? Or does it mean that the restaurant is closed permanently—never to reopen?

“The restaurant is closed” could mean either one of those. Most of the time, it’s clear from the context. But if it’s not clear, you can ask for clarification. You can ask, “Is it closed for good?”

That means, “Is it closed permanently?” One of my favorite restaurants recently closed for good. It was called Selmarie’s in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago. When I first moved to Chicago in 2005, I lived near that restaurant. And I loved going there for breakfast. But JR—the producer of this podcast—he passed by the restaurant and gave me the bad news. Selmarie’s had closed for good.

This means, it’s closed permanently. It’s not coming back. The owners have retired. A new restaurant is going in that space. I haven’t been to the new one, but I was so sad to learn that Selmarie’s had closed for good.

Permanently stopped

Did you ever have an iPod? This was Apple’s portable music player for the days before streaming. I had a few over the years. Did you know that Apple kept making iPods up until the year 2022? That blows my mind. The last time I used an iPod was probably in 2012.

But finally in 2022, Apple stopped making iPods for good. Apple stopped permanently. They’re never going to start making them. They stopped making iPods for good.

And so you can see that “for good” can also mean to stop doing something forever.

A factory might close temporarily if there is a slow season. But a factory might also close for good. If it closes for good, there are no plans to reopen, and the workers will all have to find new jobs.

It’s hard to quit smoking. Sometimes it takes a few attempts. Here’s a common story. A person might say, “I tried to quit smoking three times over the years. But when I had kids, I quit for good.” That means, he had kids, he stopped smoking permanently—no going back on it. If someone says he’s stopped a bad habit for good, it means he’s not starting it again.

Take a permanent action

By far the most common way to use “for good” is to talk about stopping something, as you’ve heard. But you can also use it to talk about something permanent that you will do or start doing. In this case, “permanent” doesn’t mean “for the rest of time” or even “for the rest of your life.” But it does mean that you’ll do something without the expectation of stopping it.

Imagine that you start working at a temporary job in a different city. You get an Airbnb in that new city, intending to live there temporarily, a few months. But you really like that place, so you decide to move your home to that new city. You leave your old house or apartment and find a new, long-term place to live in the new city. If you do that, you can say, “I’m moving here for good starting in January.”

That means, it’s permanent. No more Airbnb. No expiration date, no expectation that you’ll leave again soon. Now listen, that doesn’t mean you’ll live there for the rest of your life. But it does mean that it’s not a temporary situation anymore. You’re moving for good.

Ah, but remember that job? That was temporary. Now, if you do a good job, they might offer you a full-time position, without an expiration date. If that happens, they might say, “We’d like you to work here for good.” That means, no short-term contract, no end date, no temporary this or that. We want you here for good. That means, we want you here permanently.

You might foster a dog. That means you have offered to take care of a dog temporarily, for a few days or weeks until the dog can find a permanent home. But you might find that you get along with that dog and you want to adopt him for good. You might say to the foster agency, “We’d like to adopt him for good.” That means, adopt him permanently so that he’s your pet, not just a temporary guest in your house.

This time for good

Sometimes you’ll hear someone say, “This time for good.” That means, the previous times have been temporary, or the previous times haven’t worked. But this time it’s permanent. Like quitting smoking, losing weight can be hard. But a person might say, “I’ve lost weight a few times, only to gain it back. But I’m determined to get in shape—this time for good.” That means, “this time, permanently.”

Tom Brady is a famous American football player—and now television commentator. He retired in 2022. But just 40 days later, he announced he was coming out of retirement to join a new team and play another season. But that was his last year. In 2023, he said he was retiring, “for good this time.” He was retiring permanently.

“For good” is easy. It means “permanently” or “not temporarily.” Often, we use it when we’re talking about stopping or closing. A restaurant closes for good if it’s never going to open again. A company can stop making its product for good if it will never make that thing again.

It can be used to start doing something that you don’t expect to stop. If you move somewhere for good, it’s a permanent move—not for the rest of your life, but there’s no expiration date.

And finally, you can say “this time for good” if you mean that previous attempts have failed, but this time you’ll do something permanently.