What does "NICE" mean to you?

The word "Nice," has had more meanings than many other English words. Our modern use of "nice" to mean "pleasant" dates from the middle of the 18th century.

The word “nice” originates from the Latin word "nescius," which means "not knowing" or, more specifically, "ignorant." The French turned "nescius" into "nice," and used it to mean "stupid or simpleminded," and it was this sense that was first carried over into English.

By the fourteenth century "nice" had acquired yet another meaning, that of "wanton or lascivious." In a strange reversal in the fifteenth century, "nice" was used to mean "shy" or "refined," and by the sixteenth century the word had been narrowed down to mean "fastidious or tasteful."

Today we still use this sense in phrases such as "a nice touch" or "a nice distinction." By the middle of the 18th Century it had gained yet another meaning of pleasant and agreeable.

It has evolved to become a word with a high degree of ambiguity in meaning.

A fact best articulated in the following dialogue from Jane Austin’s Northanger Abbey.

“But now really, do not you think Udolpho the nicest book in the world?”

“The nicest—by which I suppose you mean the neatest. That must depend upon the binding.”

“Henry,” said Miss Tilney, “you are very impertinent. Miss Morland, he is treating you exactly as he does his sister. He is forever finding fault with me, for some incorrectness of language, and now he is taking the same liberty with you. The word 'nicest,' as you used it, did not suit him; and you had better change it as soon as you can, or we shall be overpowered with Johnson and Blair all the rest of the way.”

“I am sure,” cried Catherine, “I did not mean to say anything wrong; but it is a nice book, and why should not I call it so?”

“Very true,” said Henry, “and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! It does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement—people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word.”

To many people, "niceness" is a positive value to be strived for. A "nice" person is friendly, non-threatening, and not at all controversial. A "nice" meal involves digestible food, moderately pleasant surroundings, and conversation that does not offend.

A "nice" day is a day that’s enjoyable because it fits what can be considered agreeable to human comfort in terms of moderate temperature, abundant sunlight, and low humidity.

For others, "niceness", is despised because it carries connotations of a certain indifference to life's rich tapestry: an acceptance of blandness; possibly an unwillingness to commit.

For some being “nice”, is to be subservient, a person who makes themselves the exact fit to harmonize with the wishes and needs of others. A person who wishes at any expense not to offend.

What does "nice" mean to you?