Author: Trisha Leigh Zeigenhorn / Source: did you know?
I love words and etymology. Understanding where the meanings come from, even if they began in a wildly different way from how we now utilize them, gives the comforting feeling of order among the chaos that is the English language. Something cannot come from nothing, after all, and some words – like nice, for example – have had a particularly interesting evolution.
Let’s begin with a different point, however, which is the fact that the word ‘nice’ can be used as a compliment or an insult, and the determining factor is often gender.
People love nice girls. They’re demure, they defer to others, they don’t interrupt. They’re not loud or brazen or disagreeable. They remember birthdays and don’t step on people’s toes. They’re nice, and that’s seen as a good thing.
A nice guy, however? Not so much.
The moniker makes guys everywhere cringe, and typically accompanies a breakup (at least in the movies). It implies that he’s undesirable…
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