Today’s word of the day is nyttig. Nyttig has existed in Danish for centuries, and originally comes from the Old Norse word nyttogher. It also exists in Norwegian and Swedish.

It has a few different meanings, but is most often used to mean “useful”, for example jeg vil gerne gøre mig nyttig (I’d like to make myself useful), or træning er nyttig for kroppen (working out is good for the body).

Sometimes, the “useful” translation can have a negative meaning. That’s because nyttig is linked to the verb at nytte (to make use of), which you’ll see in the related words at benytte (to use, to deploy) and at udnytte (to exploit or take advantage of).

You could, for example, say that a certain skill, experience or piece of information is nyttig (useful), and the English phrase “useful idiot”, describing someone who can easily be manipulated, translates into Danish as a nyttig idiot.

If you want a synonym for nyttig which is less ambiguous, brugbar or anvendelig (both “usable”) can be a good substitute.

The opposite of nyttig is unyttig, which can be used to describe something useless. Likewise ubrugelig from the verb at bruge (to use) also means “useless”.