Nice People

We all want to be thought of as nice people.
Why?

Have you ever felt uncomfortable around nice people? People who do and say the ‘right’ things, the ‘polite’ things, the ‘agreeable’ things that are actually nonsense. This is how to promote stupidity into a ‘normal’ way of life.

The word ‘nice’ has had one of the most drastic personality shifts in the English language, evolving over several centuries from an insult, to a mild compliment.

Over the centuries,
we’ve became duff light bulbs.
🙂

It’s derived from the Latin term nescius, which literally translates as not knowing or ignorant. A negative word gradually became a positive, and we act out this unenlightened foolishness.

1300s (foolish): when it was first used in Middle English, it meant ignorant, stupid, or senseles
1300s -1400s (wanton): it shifted toward describing someone as extravagant or lascivious.
1500s (precise): the meaning refined into meaning fussy, fastidious, or careful. This sense survives today in phrases like ‘a nice distinction’ (meaning a subtle or precise one).
1700s -1800s (agreeable): it finally moved towards being pleasant and kind, already becoming a catch-all word for anything agreeable.