Let’s be Minnesota Nice everybody. Because it’s nice to be nice to the nice, especially in Nice.
Let’s be Minnesota Nice everybody. Because it’s nice to be nice to the nice, especially in Nice.
Once I learned the etymology of the word “nice”, I mostly try to avoid using it to describe people (unless it really suits them - see below). Instead, I will substitute it with something more apropos to the need, such as “pleasant” or “kind”.
From etymonline.com:
nice (adj.)
late 13c., “foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless,” from Old French nice (12c.) “careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish,” from Latin nescius “ignorant, unaware,” literally “not-knowing,” from ne- “not” (from PIE root *ne- “not”) + stem of scire “to know” (see science). “The sense development has been extraordinary, even for an adj.” [Weekley] — from “timid, faint-hearted” (pre-1300); to “fussy, fastidious” (late 14c.); to “dainty, delicate” (c. 1400); to “precise, careful” (1500s, preserved in such terms as a nice distinction and nice and early); to “agreeable, delightful” (1769); to “kind, thoughtful” (1830).