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What's this with nice in USA?

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    What's this with nice in USA?

    Watched a movie the other day. Some Hollywood waste I could have been without and there it was again.
    - But he's.... nice
    - Oh, that's such a mean thing to say

    It wasn't even about a bloke potential partner or fu**. In the dialogue they were talking about him as a friend, nothing more, and it's not the first time I see it in movies.

    So is this only in movies or in real life as well, in USA, describing someone as nice is like saying someone is a dork or whatever?

    Nice is very good, isn't it? If someone is nice they're bloody ace to befriend or even share your life with. What's wrong with nice?

    #2
    Nice is the "compliment" used when there isn't an actual compliment to use.

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      #3
      Also, while it's not really the context here I think, there's also the whole Nice Guy Syndrome thing.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Pietro Paolo Virdis View Post
        Watched a movie the other day. Some Hollywood waste I could have been without and there it was again.
        - But he's.... nice
        - Oh, that's such a mean thing to say

        It wasn't even about a bloke potential partner or fu**. In the dialogue they were talking about him as a friend, nothing more, and it's not the first time I see it in movies.

        So is this only in movies or in real life as well, in USA, describing someone as nice is like saying someone is a dork or whatever?

        Nice is very good, isn't it? If someone is nice they're bloody ace to befriend or even share your life with. What's wrong with nice?
        Very common usage of the term in Ireland also, see also the description of someone as "harmless".

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          #5
          Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
          Nice is the "compliment" used when there isn't an actual compliment to use.
          Yeah, that's the "he's not exciting enough for me to date" thing. Like "he's not a geek but almost" and it's funny how "geeks" nowadays are the multi-billionaire.
          Come to think of it, is there an equivalent for women? "She's a nice girl" does that work opposite?

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            #6
            Nice also has an interesting etymology: Middle English (in the sense ‘stupid’): from Old French, from Latin nescius ‘ignorant’, from nescire ‘not know’. Other early senses included ‘coy, reserved’, giving rise to ‘fastidious, scrupulous’: this led both to the sense ‘fine, subtle’ (regarded by some as the ‘correct’ sense), and to the main current senses

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              #7
              When The Exploding Vole first infiltrated Britain he found that his use of “nice” tended to cause offence, particularly where complimenting his mother-in-law’s cooking was concerned.

              He felt a midwestern “nice” rated higher than a U.K. “nice”.

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                #8
                I think there are other words which are positive, but which are perceived as not effusive enough and have therefore become "damning with faint praise"

                Not just in English. I'm enjoying counting the number of times Romanian football commentators in this world cup refer to poor passes as "modest"

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                  #9
                  We have a girl in our office. There's absolutely no earthly reason she should be single, but she (unhappily) is*. But if you ask one of the guys "would you date her?" it's always "um......no".

                  She's nice. She really is.



                  *Just so you don't confuse her with the other unhappily single gal, who gives off a faint "colossal screaming high-maintenance pain in the ass" vibe.

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                    #10
                    Interesting. To describe someone as "nice" here is really to damn with faint praise. In my favorite watering hole there are a couple of regulars who come in, not together, who are described as "nice" in a "nice enough... but..." kind of way. I asked someone what they meant and they said that they had "no real personality". Would it be preferred if they yelled, screamed and threw bar stools across the room?

                    I have spoken with them both on many occasions and have found them interesting, entertaining and while they don't initiate conversations they are happy to talk. The young lady in particular has a waspish wit that I like.

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                      #11
                      I don't mind 'nice' if it's used to describe something that's clearly better than 'nice'.

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                        #12

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                          #13

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                            #14
                            "Nice" = meh
                            "Noice" = excellent

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                              #15
                              "She seems nice" means "she is a bitch" (or c*nt or whatever)

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                                #16
                                Yeah, but you have to italicize the 'she' in that instance.

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Aitch View Post
                                  Nice also has an interesting etymology: Middle English (in the sense ‘stupid’): from Old French, from Latin nescius ‘ignorant’, from nescire ‘not know’. Other early senses included ‘coy, reserved’, giving rise to ‘fastidious, scrupulous’: this led both to the sense ‘fine, subtle’ (regarded by some as the ‘correct’ sense), and to the main current senses
                                  Oh, that's interesting.
                                  And I mean that.
                                  Shit can get tense here so just wanted to make it clear.

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                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
                                    "damning with faint praise"
                                    I like that description. In the sense that it's how I've understood it's used even though I don't understand why.

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                                      #19
                                      It's all part of the same modern adjective inflation that considers average to be a synonym for inadequate. The sort of attitude that demands all Schools (say) are excellent even though it's a relative measure and if they were all excellent that would also mean they are all average. cf. the American use of 'awesome' when what is really meant is 'quite nice' or 'vaguely handy' or some other non-hyperbolic description.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Femme Folle View Post
                                        "She seems nice" means "she is a bitch" (or c*nt or whatever)
                                        Really!?
                                        If I was your brother and brought home a girlfriend for dinner and your mother said "she seems nice", you'd interpret that as your mom saying she's a bitch? I'd see that as potential them getting along very well.
                                        While I would totally get if I was your brother and brought home a friend to try hitch you up and you said "he seems nice", I'd interpret that as you're not interested at all, not a chance.

                                        Now, please do remember, all of the above is my interpretations of how it works in american movies.

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                                          #21
                                          John Peel would occasionally apologise for his overuse of "really nice" to describe a particular recording. In his case I think he wanted to avoid being over-effusive, but ended up diminishing the song according to some.

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                                            #22

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                                              #23
                                              That's the ironic nice. The thing I described in my initial post is the genuine nice. That's the one I don't get why it's a bad thing.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by Pietro Paolo Virdis View Post
                                                Oh, that's interesting.
                                                And I mean that.
                                                Shit can get tense here so just wanted to make it clear.
                                                Nay probs

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                                                  #25
                                                  It's not bad. It's just seriously lacking in good.

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