Danish word of the day: at genere

Don't be shy, today's word of the day isn't too much of a nuisance to learn.

The Danish word at genere is a useful, everyday verb which bridges physical inconvenience and social annoyance.

Before using this word, make sure to look up the pronunciation, as this isn’t entirely obvious. The “g” isn’t a hard, guttural “g”, but rather a “sh”. Genere is therefore pronounced along the lines of “shin-ear-ruh”.

At genere is a verb which means to bother, annoy, disturb or inconvenience someone. It can be used for people bothering each other, or physical things causing discomfort (such as a blinding headlights or a scratchy woolly sweater).

The word can also be used in the noun phrase til gene for , which translates to “a nuisance to” or “an inconvenience for”. It’s often used in public announcements, such as roads blocked due to road work or traffic, or noise due to loud construction work.

Although closely related, at genere shouldn’t be confused with the past participle of the verb and Danish adjective, genert , which means “shy”.

The word was imported directly from the French verb gêner (to bother, embarrass, or constrain) in the 18th century - hence the funny Danish pronunciation.

It entered the Danish language at a time when French culture and language heavily influenced the Danish royal court and upper classes. Over time certain French words trickled down into everyday vocabulary. Genere is one, but other everyday examples are words like paraply (an umbrella), chef (a boss), etage (a floor), chauffør (a driver), and many more.

Because Danish society places a high value on not imposing on others, the word at genere comes up often. If you want to ask if you are in the way, apologise to your neighbour for noise, or describe any sort of imposition, a variation of genere is bound to come in handy.

“The car was parked as a nuisance/inconvenience to the traffic.”