Practice was first used to refer to a profession in Old French and Latin around 1400. The word usually referred to medicine, but also law, alchemy and magic.

The word "practical" has kind of gotten a bad name, implying a certain dourness, a life lacking in purple. We tend to more admire life writ-large: the risk-taker, the idealist, the artiste. Yet ...

She’s very practical in this mother hen, grandma way. For example, if you’re too worn out, she says, stop fasting, eat a bowl of soup and take a nap. That’s the voice we need.