Tuesday, April 5, 2011

oh how nice!

Taking a break from Dostoevsky, I thought I'd share the origin of one of my favorite "words that used to mean something completely different".

"Nice" nowadays is often used to refer to something mildly pleasant or a person who is generally kind; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, however, nice means:





1. A foolish or simple person; a fool.
a1393    Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 4725   Fulofte he faileth of his game That wol with ydel hand reclame His hauk, as many a nyce doth.
a1425 (1400) Chaucer Romaunt Rose 5043   If it be ony fool or nyce, In whom that Shame hath no justice.

 or


 2. More fully Nice biscuit. A thin, sweet biscuit containing coconut and sprinkled with sugar.
1895    Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 5   Biscuits. Nice.





Isn't that nice?

3 comments:

  1. How nice of you to point that out to your readers :)

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  2. Mmmmmm, this hungry student would like some nices! Those sweet coconutty biscuits sound delishous!

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  3. That's what I'm going for (:
    Let us find a recipe and make some nice nices! Perfect study food!

    ReplyDelete