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nomadatlatl
27 January

  • Japanese
  • English (US)
Question about English (US)

Does this sound natural?

Thank you so much for the nice suggestion.

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isthmus_x
27 January

  • English (UK)
  • English (US)

@nomadatlatl

Yes, the very epitome of politeness.

Highly-rated answerer
nomadatlatl
27 January

  • Japanese
@isthmus_x Thanks a lot as always.
I'm wondering which words "nice" goes well with, I mean, I'm curious about the collocation of "nice" and other words.
How about this example?
A: You've got a nice boy! I hear he's going to Harvard.
B: Thanks.
isthmus_x
27 January

  • English (UK)
  • English (US)
@nomadatlatl It’s almost impossible to believe how much the meaning and use of this word has changed over time. But it is possible to make a couple of general rules. There is totally no problem with using – nice – in relation to inanimate things. This ice cream is so nice. It was a nice day. His car has nice, comfortable headrests. Then, you can say that some actions are nice – it was nice of you to think of me. He was very nice to my mother. They could’ve been a little bit nicer, but I suppose it is a very hot day. The thing about using nice with actions – nice is DISTANCING. It is not something that you say about anything truly intimate, anything that you actually care about deeply. Here’s a good way to think about nice – it’s like a border wall between people, when they don’t want to be overly close to one another – but they want to be good neighbours. So – that is why you shouldn’t tell somebody that they have a nice boy. To you, the boy is just some boy – but to the other person, that is their beloved son. They are not going to feel good about agreeing with you that he is “nice“ – they are going to feel extremely awkward about that. It’s almost like saying – your son is a very useful piece of furniture. Why is our relationship with this word so complicated? – 400 years ago, nice meant – idiotic, retarded, clumsy, thick etc. And inbetween, it has had thousands of different shades of meaning. Very very very weird word. I used to know a guy who was in a band called Nice. And guess what – he was a very nice guy.

@nomadatlatl

It’s almost impossible to believe how much the meaning and use of this word has changed over time. But it is possible to make a couple of general rules.

There is totally no problem with using – nice – in relation to inanimate things. This ice cream is so nice. It was a nice day. His car has nice, comfortable headrests.

Then, you can say that some actions are nice – it was nice of you to think of me. He was very nice to my mother. They could’ve been a little bit nicer, but I suppose it is a very hot day.

The thing about using nice with actions – nice is DISTANCING. It is not something that you say about anything truly intimate, anything that you actually care about deeply.

Here’s a good way to think about nice – it’s like a border wall between people, when they don’t want to be overly close to one another – but they want to be good neighbours.

So – that is why you shouldn’t tell somebody that they have a nice boy. To you, the boy is just some boy – but to the other person, that is their beloved son. They are not going to feel good about agreeing with you that he is “nice“ – they are going to feel extremely awkward about that. It’s almost like saying – your son is a very useful piece of furniture.

Why is our relationship with this word so complicated? – 400 years ago, nice meant – idiotic, retarded, clumsy, thick etc. And inbetween, it has had thousands of different shades of meaning. Very very very weird word.

I used to know a guy who was in a band called Nice. And guess what – he was a very nice guy.

Highly-rated answerer
nomadatlatl
27 January

  • Japanese
@isthmus_x Excellent suggestion! Yes, language journeys are so "nice", aren't they! I think you can easily know what I mean by "nice."😋
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Does this sound natural? Thank you so much for the nice suggestion.
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