Is nice a real word

What’s the origin of nice?

Nice, it turns out, began as a negative term derived from the Latin nescius, meaning “unaware, ignorant.” This sense of “ignorant” was carried over into English when the word was first borrowed (via French) in the early 1300s. And for almost a century, nice was used to characterize a “stupid, ignorant, or foolish” person.

Starting in the late 1300s, nice began to refer to “conduct, a person, or clothing that was considered excessively luxurious or lascivious.” However, by the 1400s a new, more neutral sense of nice was emerging. At this time, nice began to refer to “a person who was finely dressed, someone who was scrupulous, or something that was precise or fussy.”

By the late 1500s, nice was further softening, describing something as “refined, culture,” especially used of polite society.

The high value placed on being coy, delicate, and reserved was instrumental in the semantic amelioration of the term nice in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Jane Austen, for instance, mocked this now-positive term in Northanger Abbey (1817) when Henry Tilney teases the naive Catherine Morland for her overuse of nice. He jokes: “… and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh, it is a very nice word, indeed!—it does for everything.”

What’s the origin of the phrase nice guy?

Over 200 years later, nice still “does (the job) for everything.” It’s a catch-all word for someone or something “pleasant” or “agreeable.”

But, in the popular dating culture, the nice guy has become anything but. In fact, it seems nice, harkening back to its root, is becoming a not-so-nice word again. As found on internet forums as early as the 1980s, romantically unsuccessful men have identified as the niceguy, always losing out to their nemesis: the bad boy.

This dating nice guy apparently draws on earlier constructions of nice guy. Predated by nice fellow in the 1800s, the phrase nice guy is found in the written record in the early 1900s.

The expression nice guys finish last—agreeable people who get overpowered by their more assertive counterparts—is credited to Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher in 1946.Nice guy also makes an appearance in no more Mr. Nice Guy, said when someone is throwing down—and implying nice guys are soft and weak. Alice Cooper rocked the saying in his 1973 track “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” A reporter memorably asked it of Richard Nixon about the Vietnam War in 1977.

The language of a nice guy

You’ve likely heard—or maybe even used—the expression he’s a nice guy, but … People may use this phrase as a polite way to decline a potential male partner, whether because they aren’t interested in him or personally don’t find him attractive in some way.

In the 2000s on some feminist spaces on the internet, nice guy started to more specifically refer to an insecure man who expects his kindness to be rewarded with sex. At least that’s in part how the website Heartless Bitches International saw it in their noted 2002 denunciation against the nice guy. This piece helped influence Nice Guy™ and Nice Guy Syndrome, terms for men who think being nice alone entitles them sex.

In current usage, it’s not uncommon to see some so-called nice guys throwing around the term friend-zone. A person (usually a guy) can be put in the friend-zone or be friend-zoned when someone he is interested in dating views him as just a friend. While friend-zone can be used in a neutral way, it is often used in an entitled way to question why a person always chooses the “nice guy” last.

Does this mean no more Mr. Nice Guy?

Of course, the term nice guy can still be used non-ironically to refer to a genuinely nice dude, e.g., “Your dad is such a nice guy!” However, it’s important to keep tone in mind as you come across the term nice guy on the internet, especially if it appears in quotes.

As a 2012 piece in Jezebel reminds us: “… rule number one of being a real nice guy is that you never, ever refer to yourself as a ‘nice guy.’”

History of nice:

Nice is a highly polysemous word. A polysemous word has more than one meaning.

Origin: Ne- (not) + scire (know, same root as ‘science’) -> nescire (not know) -> nescius (ignorant) -> nice (careless, clumsy, stupid — late 13c). In 14th century, its meaning was foolish, ignorant and stupid —> semantic change (amelioration) —> fastidious (late 14c) -> precise, careful (1500’s) -> agreeable, delightful (1769) -> kind, thoughtful (1830’s) -> pleasant, agreeable and then respectable (19c) -> pleasant and other positive meanings (20c onwards).

Nice and another English word nescience (meaning: ignorant) have the same origin (nescire).

Brief answer:

It was borrowed from French, meaning silly and stupid. Years later, nice meant dissolute or extravagant in dress and fashionable. From there, the word went on to mean finely dressed or precise about looks. And then, precise about looks changed to precise about reputation.
As time went on, ‘nice’ meant something like to have a refined taste. From here, the positive connotations continued with the idea of being cultured, respectable and agreeable.

Finally, after this perplexing history, ‘nice’ remains a term of approval today. We use it all the time to compliment people.

It entered Modern English through Old French and Middle English from Latin so its meaning has changed over time. This is because of semantic change.

Explanation:

From Merriam Webster:

It is a bit difficult to say with much certainty what the earliest meaning of nice was in Modern English, since by the end of the 14th century there were already a number of different senses of the word — [M-W]

Some other meanings of ‘nice’:

• ‘Nice’ has meant ‘tarty’:

Sometimes it went further than this pejorative sense — it had the sense of the modern British slang ‘tarty’, or ‘[appropriate to] a woman of promiscuous sexual behaviour’.) — [AWE]

• ‘Nice’ has meant ‘fastidious’ (around 1500):

Its second main meaning was that of ‘precise’ or ‘fastidious’ — [AWE]

• ‘Nice’ has meant ‘dissolute’:

May we not this day read our sin in our punishment? O what nice and wanton appetites, what curious and itching ears, had thy people in the dayes of plenty? — John Flavel, Husbandry Spiritualized, 1674 — [M-W]

• ‘Nice’ has meant ‘chaste’:

“But Reddy Wheeler knew Daisy. We were properly introduced. It was quite all right!”
“Yes, but nice girls don’t do this sort of thing, you know—unchaperoned, and so late at night, and all that.” — Fred Jackson, “Young Blood,” Munsey’s Magazine, 1917 — [M-W]

‘Nice’ has meant ‘finicky’:

By the 16th century, the sense of being «very particular» or «finicky» had developed — [Word Central]

Why did the meaning of ‘nice’ change:

The meaning of nice changed because of a common phenomenon called Semantic change.

Semantic change

In semantics and historical linguistics, semantic change refers to any change in the meaning(s) of a word over the course of time. Also called semantic shift, lexical change, and semantic progression. Common types of semantic change include amelioration, pejoration, broadening, semantic narrowing, bleaching, metaphor, and metonymy.

1. Amelioration:

When a word with negative meaning develops a positive meaning, the process is called ‘amelioration’.

The literal meaning of ameliorate is to make something unpleasant better.

Example: The best example of amelioration is ‘nice’.
‘Nice’ had negative meanings (ignorant, stupid and silly in 14th century), now it’s used in positive sense (pleasant, excellent, admirable etc).

The opposite of amelioration is pejoration

2. Pejoration:

When a word with positive meaning develops a negative meaning, the process is called ‘pejoration’.

The literal meaning of pejorate is to make something worse.

Example:

A very common example of pejoration is the word ‘gay’.

‘Gay’ originally meant lighthearted and joyous in 13th century. In 14th century, its meaning was bright and showy. It acquired negative connotations (immorality) around 1637. Presently, it’s used to mean homosexual. See how it developed negative meaning. It’s called pejoration.

References:

• Merriam Webster
• Dictionary.com
• Wikipedia
• ADW Blog
• Maitland Mercury
• Amelioration — ThoughtCo
• Mental Floss
• ADW blog

Is nicest a real word?

Superlative form of nice: most nice.

Is it more nice or nicer?

Both grammatically correct, but “nicer” is by far the more common idiom.

Is much nicer correct?

“much/far nicer” are both completely fine. Both are grammatical and are commonly used.

Is it better than I or better than me?

In written English, especially in a formal document such as a business letter or a school assignment, most native speakers believe that the subject pronouns I, he, she, we, and they are correct after than. Therefore, if you want to sound educated and correct, it is safer to use “better than I.”

Is Smarter a proper word?

Yet, “smarter” is the correct form in the comparative of the word “smart.” Why is this? Using our example words above, let’s form some comparatives and superlatives: “Sally is more intelligent than Tom.

Is it smarter than or smarter then?

They are both correct. Usage trumps reference and the majority of native English speakers use ‘me’ over ‘I’. With “smarter than I”, than is used as a conjunction and the verb to be is implied to make “smarter than I am”.

Is it smarter than or then?

When comparing one thing with another you may find that one is more appealing “than” another. “Than” is the word you want when doing comparisons. But if you are talking about time, choose “then“: “First you separate the eggs; then you beat the whites.” Alexis is smarter than I, not “then I.”

Can you say more smarter?

‘More smart’ is grammatically incorrect, the correct comparative degree of ‘smart’ – as a one syllable adjective , is ‘smarter’ . ‘more’ is used with 2 or more syllable- adjectives/adverbs : more honest, more modern, more slowly, more valuable, more beautifully etc.

Is it more scary or scarier?

Scary – Positive Scarier – Comparative (Superiority, Synthetic) Scariest – Superlative (Synthehic) More scary is ‘comparative’ too… So, use ‘scarier’.

Is funner a word?

And they also agree that…the answer to “is funner a word?” is yes. If you want to consider “fun,” as an adjective, a word, then “funner” is indeed a word, as is “funnest,” per normal rules of adjective formation.

What is the meaning of smartest?

a. Having or showing intelligence; bright. See Synonyms at intelligent. b. Canny and shrewd in dealings with others: a smart negotiator.

What is the difference between smart and intelligent?

What is the difference between being smart and being intelligent? The differences are subtle, but add up to a lot. Smart people know a lot of facts and are able to draw on this arsenal of facts with ease. Intelligent people know a lot of facts but are driven by a constant curiosity to find out more.

Who is the smartest person in the world?

Christopher Michael Langan (born March 25, 1952) is an American horse rancher and autodidact who has been reported to score very highly on IQ tests. Langan’s IQ was estimated on ABC’s 20/20 to be between 195 and 210, and in 1999 he was described by some journalists as “the smartest man in America” or “in the world”.

What’s the smartest animal in the world?

CHIMPANZEES. RECKONED to be the most-intelligent animals on the planet, chimps can manipulate the environment and their surroundings to help themselves and their community.

What’s smarter a dog or a cat?

A study carried out by researchers from six universities and published in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy suggests something that dog advocates may claim they already knew: that dogs could be more intelligent. Researchers have found that dogs have around twice the number of neurons in their cerebral cortex than cats.

What is smarter a dog or dolphin?

Dogs understand human language better than dolphins. Dogs did not make the grade on the self-awareness Mirror Test—something dolphins have mastered—and dolphins appear to be better problem solvers. However, dogs and dolphins can both use human pointing and eye-direction cues to locate objects in the distance.

What is the average IQ of a dog?

The average dog has a mental age equivalent to that of a two to a two-and-a-half-year old human. This is measured by the number of words, signs and signals that the dog can understand. Very smart dogs can learn up to about 250 commands.

Is Dolphin smarter than human?

Based on current metrics for intelligence, dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals in the world. While intelligence is difficult to quantify in any organism, many studies suggest that dolphins are second only to us humans in smarts. However, dolphins also excel intelligence-based tests.

What’s the IQ of a dolphin?

The La Plata dolphin has an EQ of approximately 1.67; the Ganges river dolphin of 1.55; the orca of 2.57; the bottlenose dolphin of 4.14; and the tucuxi dolphin of 4.56; In comparison to other animals, elephants have an EQ ranging from 1.13 to 2.36; chimpanzees of approximately 2.49; dogs of 1.17; cats of 1.00; and …

What is the IQ of a average person?

The vast majority of people in the United States have I.Q.s between 80 and 120, with an I.Q. of 100 considered average. To be diagnosed as having mental retardation, a person must have an I.Q. below 70-75, i.e. significantly below average.

What is the IQ of a genius?

Historical IQ classification tables

Do dolphins bite?

Truly wild dolphins will bite when they are angry, frustrated, or afraid. They are disturbed when people try to swim with them. Dolphins who have become career beggars can be pushy, aggressive, and threatening when they don’t get the handout they expect.

Can a dolphin kill a shark?

“We do know that dolphins will attack and kill small sharks,” he says, adding that they will also kill other large fish and small porpoises that pose no immediate threat. They don’t usually eat these victims though, and the altercations often happen when the dolphins appear to be socializing.