| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 86.1 | | TLE::WINALSKI | Paul S. Winalski | Sun Mar 02 1986 15:47 | 4 |
| Hackers (in the original sense of the term) have adopted the term 'crackers'
for those who delight in mischievous intrusions into computer systems.
--PSW
|
| 86.2 | "watts" in a name | WOODRO::ABBOTT | | Sat Nov 19 1988 05:48 | 2 |
| Have some hackers gone "crackers" ?
|
| 86.3 | Nice -> Nice | KERNEL::MORRIS | Which universe did you dial? | Tue Jul 20 1993 04:34 | 15 |
| Join NEURON today!
(Noters Encouraging Updating or Re-awakening of Old Notes)
I don't have any reasonable reference books available (I'm in the
office now but all my books at home are packed up anyway).
Can anybody shed some light for me on how the meaning of the word
"nice" has shifted recently from `over-particular: hard to please:
fastidious [O.Fr. nice, foolishly simple - L nescius, ignorant - ne,
not, scire, to know]' to its present `agreeable: delightful [no
etymology]' {References from Chamber's 20th Century Dictionary}?
It would be really nice if you could help :o)
Jon
|
| 86.4 | 4 meanings, all different | PAOIS::HILL | An immigrant in Paris | Tue Jul 20 1993 06:23 | 17 |
| Jon
I don't think it has shifted, subtly or otherwise, in its meaning.
My Collins dictionary lists the following meanings, which include both
your varieties, doesn't it? The dictionary also has some usage
examples (UE).
1 pleasant
2 kind UE - a nice gesture
3 good or satisfactory UE - they made a noice job of it
4 subtle; precise UE - a nice distinction
I haven't got the package yet, so I can't afford a big, proper
dictionary with etymological information.
Nick
|
| 86.5 | | SMURF::BINDER | Deus tuus tibi sed deus meus mihi | Tue Jul 20 1993 07:13 | 19 |
| Let's see what some definitions of "nice" are:
o showing fastidious or finicky tastes: particular. This definition
is quite in line with the Latin "nescio" in that it implies, "I
don't know what you're talking about, so do it my way."
o trivial. This one fits as well, implying "not worth knowing," and
it's just a short skip from there to:
o pleasant. Here is a suggestion of "not worth bothering to know,
just enjoy it as it is."
o fine, small (as in a nice distinction). This one is still right in
there, because here "nice" implies small, as too small to be worth
knowing or caring about.
None of these is semantically far enough away from the implications
inherent in the Latin to qualify in my book as a veritable *shift* in
meaning.
|
| 86.6 | It's a standard example | TLE::JBISHOP | | Tue Jul 20 1993 08:41 | 18 |
| Initially "nice" means "trivial", "tiny", "finicky",
or "nit-picky". People must have began to like nits
so later on the emotional connotation got upgraded,
shifting "nice" towards "subtle" or "fine". Then it
got broadened to a more general sense of approval, a
weak form of "good". More recently there's been a
narrowing to that form of good which is conventional,
e.g. a "nice girl".
As you would expect, the older meanings live on in
restricted niches ("nice distinction" as noted in .5).
The shifts in the meaning "nice" are well documented,
and I've seen it used in just about every popular book
on linguistics or the history of English I've looked
it. It seems to be the standard example!
-John Bishop
|
| 86.7 | Your mote is my beam | FORTY2::KNOWLES | DECspell snot awl ewe kneed | Wed Jul 21 1993 07:21 | 9 |
| .6's `must have begun to like nits' may be where some people feel the
story breaks down. But I can easily imagine, in donnish conversation,
`That's a nice point ' meaning both `that's a finely drawn distinction'
and `that's a point made in a way that I approve of'. This is not
really a question of liking nits, so much as appreciating (in the sense
of recognizing the value of) fine distinctions (which in some contexts
matter and aren't really nits).
b
|