student asking question

"Useless" gives me something that is not able to use. Wouldn't you feel bad if you use the word "useless" like this?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

You are right, to be "useless" means something is unable to be used. So when you use this to refer to a person, it may be very offensive and negative since it means that they have no skill or ability in that area, and are in other words, worthless. In this case, it is especially offensive because he says "women are useless", which gives the impression that all women are bad at archery. So when you use the word "useless" to refer to people, it is stronger and has a much more negative nuance than when the word is used for things. Ex: He doesn't know how to cook so he is useless in the kitchen. Ex: She is a useless teacher; I haven't learned anything from her class.

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