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handy or useful?

  • 06-08-2003 11:00am
    #1
    kaalgat
    Registered Users Posts: 136 ✭✭


    I was wondering about the difference between "useful" and "handy".

    I know there is a difference, but isn't sure about when to use which. The dictionary wasn't very helpful.

    Kaalgat


Comments

  • #2
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    My immediate reaction is that "handy" is a more informal word but that they both have the same meanings.


  • #3
    Bard
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,309 ✭✭✭✭Bard


    They don't have the same meaning.

    Handy would more often be taken to mean "close to hand"... as in "she walloped him with a handy lead pipe".

    Useful would mean "Being of practical use"... as in "my, but thats a useful pen-knife you have there!"


  • #4
    simu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,730 ✭✭✭✭simu


    Interesting. I didn't know that. I'm guilty of having misused the word "handy" for many a year so!


  • #5
    ColinM
    Closed Accounts Posts: 622 ✭✭✭ColinM


    Well if that's the case, then what about phrases that use the construct of "a something can come in very handy when you something something somthing". (Or more intelligbly, here's an example of one of those phrases: "A map and a compass can come in very handy when you are trying to navigate unfamiliar territory"). You can't expect "handy" there to mean "close to hand". I mean - if you did actually bring these items with you on an orienteering trip, then obviously they would be close to hand because you would already be carrying them!

    Short answer - Simu is right on the money - they are synonyms, but "handy" is probably vernacular. Bard, you have just used an instance of another meaning of the word "handy".


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