A Dictionary of Cont..

nice 318
the issue of the battle had been uncertain and
turned eventually in England’s favor by a narrow
margin of advantage or good fortune. Today,
however, the word is almost entirely favorable.
A nice apple is the sort of apple that a nice
or discriminating person, a connoisseur of apples,
would select, or just a good apple. And so
with a nice day or anything else said to be nice.
When someone says that someone else has said
the nicest things about us, we do not assume
that the compliments were fastidious or finely
discriminating. We just know that something
agreeable has been said.
From agreeable nice has also developed the
meaning of decorous, proper, though this sense
is expressed negatively in conjunction with not
(That’s not a nice song. It’s not nice of little
boys to do such things). From this, the word
is now taking on the meaning of “kind,” as in
be nice to him.
nice; choice; dainty; fine. Unless it is to be reduced
to a mere synonym of pleasant, as it so
often is, nice should keep something of its older
meaning of subtle or precise. Choice means
worthy of being chosen, carefully selected;
hence excellent, superior (choice apples, choice
phrases). Where there is no selection the word
might be absurd and it is so much overworked
as an adjective of commendation (perhaps to
suggest that the user is himself a judge of fitting
selections) that it is well to use another word if
possible. Fine (probably a back formation from
finish), like nice, designates the sort of thing
that would be selected by those capable of delicate
or fine discrimination, hence of striking
merit (a fine-looking boy). Feeling for this
meaning has been largely lost and the word has
become- a vague synonym for good (You’re
looking fine. We had a fine time). An echo of
the older meaning is heard in ‘the common
ironic use of the word. When someone says A
fine mess you made of it! there is a suggestion
that the mess is so bad that it could be selected
from among other messes for its particular
badness.
Dainty, akin afar off to dignity, first meant
honor and then the sort of thing suitable to a
person who is honored. Hence excellent, fine,
choice (Wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before
a king?). But the preferences of such people
seemed to the common man, apparently, to run
to the delicate, the fragile, the exquisite (Such
dainty china was not for everyday use). It’s a
point-of-view word and from the robust point
of view, daintiness merges into squeamishness
(You can’t be dainty about the boss’s cigar, my
girl. See also fastidious.
nicknames. A nickname is a name given instead
of or in addition to the actual name. It is usually
descriptive, or a familiar form of the proper
name. The word nickname is in itself a sort of
nickname, since it is a corruption of an eke
name, or an additional name, folk-etymologized,
it would seem, under the influence of the
common nickname Nick.
Sobriquet is given in most dictionaries as a
synonym for nickname, and so it may now be
used. But it is slightly pompous and there are
differences in the meanings of the two words
which the discriminating speaker or writer may
wish to preserve. First, a nickname is likely to
be an adjunct of the name itself and not peculiar
to the individual (as Tom for Thomus),
while a sobriquet is usually applied to a person
because of some special association with a quality,
achievement or incident (Old Curmudgeon,
Wizard of Menlo Park, Swedish Nightingale,
Greut Commoner, Last of the Red Hot
Mamas). In other words, a sobriquet is unique.
Second, a nickname could generally be used in
addressing a person. A sobriquet very often
would not, or could not, be. One who knew
Abraham Lincoln might have called him Abe
in talking to him. But he would not have
addressed him as Great Emancipator or Rail
Splitter. Thus a nickname, while not necessarily
more individual, is more personal.
Nicknames are usually derived from some
adaptation of the regular name or from some
individual characteristic, though this need not
be unique. In the first instance it might be the
result of a simple shortening-as Dave for
David; a slight change in the form of the name
or a part of it-as Jim for James, Ned for
Edward or Betty for Elizabeth. Dick for
Richard is hard to explain, though it is one of
the commonest and oldest of all nicknames. It
was a shortened form of the once common
name Dickon and may simply have been transferred.
Many nicknames are diminutiveslohnnie
for Zohn. Some are a combination of
initials--Casey for K.C., Mu Ferguson for
Miriam A. Ferguson. In the second instance,
the nickname might develop from appearance
-Red, Slim, Shorty; from a quality-Speed,
Happy, Gabby; from place of origin-Tex,
Frenchy. The line between nickname and sobriquet
becomes blurred in such appellations as
Dizzy Dean, Hot Lips Paige and Pretty Boy
Floyd.
On the whole nicknames have friendly,
pleasant connotations. Those with negative
associations are comparatively rare. And nicknames
are not as a rule taken. They are given.
There is some recognition of a personality in
the bestowing of a nickname. Perhaps that is
why people in public life are so often referred
to by their nicknames. It establishes an identification
as a personality, something more than
the mere bearer of a name. Ike Eisenhower,
Yogi Berra, Liz Taylor, Rocky Graziano,
Danny Kaye-all derive an intangible benefit
from their nicknames.
The negative nicknames are those given to
unpopular figures, such as criminals (Scarface,
Cherry Nose) or those who have in some way
offended the public (or perhaps a columnist).
Baby Face Nelson was, apparently, so named
by his criminal associates and the public (which,
on the whole, is fond of its criminals) relished
the irony. Golf Bag Sam Hunt, one of Chicago’s
more resourceful hoodlums, gained his nick-