# Is "nicer" valid?



## monokitty

Is the term "nicer" a valid term to use? Though not a word - is it valid english?


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## minnes

it is not an acceptable word in the English language.
Nice, Nicest, not so nice, very nice, nicer...I have never heard of that being spoken before.


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## The Doug

Nicer is a valid word.


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## SINC

Gee you guys don't pay much attention to women.

Have you never seen two women trying on clothes? One always asks the other, "which one do I look nicer in, this one or that one?"



Not you BTW Doug!


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## Dr.G.

"Nicer" is the inflected form of the word "nice", in that it transforms the word "nice" in a more qualitative sense, as in "The Shang is a nicer place to be than New York City."


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## Kazak

Nicer may be a word, but that doesn't mean one has to use it. We know, for instance, that nice guys finish last, so would I want to be nicer than you? As children, we were all told to be nice to our brother/sister/dog/hamster/goldfish/babysitter. I'm sure I read in a style guide somewhere that the word nice (in any form) conveys little meaning and that many clearer, more vivid alternatives are available. Someone looking to win my affection (indulge me here) will get much farther saying my eyes are hazel, soulful, deep, clear, searching, probing--heck, even bloodshot--than saying they are nice.

All of this is secondary, of course, to my bigger challenge of keeping my fingers from closing around the throat of my vice-principal when she says she needs to liaise about something.


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## Dr.G.

Kazak, re your comment "As children, we were all told to be nice to our brother/sister/dog/hamster/goldfish/babysitter.", is it not nicer to cuddle with your dog than your goldfish?


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## RevMatt

Kazak said:


> All of this is secondary, of course, to my bigger challenge of keeping my fingers from closing around the throat of my vice-principal when she says she needs to liaise about something.


Hehe. Good one. My current "favourite" would the new verb, to gift. As in: we have been gifted by the words of....

GAH!!!!!


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## SINC

It will be interesting to see who will be nicer about it, the winner or the loser of this debate.


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## Cameo

SINC said:


> It will be interesting to see who will be nicer about it, the winner or the loser of this debate.



***Groan***


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## Sonal

SINC said:


> It will be interesting to see who will be nicer about it, the winner or the loser of this debate.


Nice!


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## winwintoo

This discussion reminds me of an old joke. I can't remember the joke, but it's about two women, one keeps saying "That's nice" - the punch line is something about going to charm school where she was taught to say "that's nice" instead of what she's *REALLY* thinking   

Does anyone remember that joke??

Margaret


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## monokitty

> the punch line is something about going to charm school where she was taught to say "that's nice" instead of what she's *REALLY* thinking


Don't know the joke, but that's true regardless for most people for the sake of being polite and understanding.


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## MACSPECTRUM

If nice guys finish last, does that mean that "nicer" guys finish "laster" or "more last?"


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## minnes

You know what's weird is that yesterday, nicer did not sound familier to me as a word i heard many times, today I wonder what I was thinking. However, I still don't like the word nicer, it really does sound awkward and vague in meaning to me.
so, I choose not to use it


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## The Doug

MACSPECTRUM said:


> If nice guys finish last, does that mean that "nicer" guys finish "laster" or "more last?"


Lastest, silly.


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## Dr.G.

If, as Leo Durocher once said, "Nice guys finish last", nicer guys still finish last.........but they feel worse about this finish than does a nice person.


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## minnes

Dr G, that was the nicer-est thing I've read all day.


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## Cameo

That is because you couldn't find a nicer guy than Dr. G!


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## Dr.G.

Minnes, you are living proof that the English language is evolving daily, in that this too was "...the nicer-est thing I've read all day". Merci, mon ami.


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## Dr.G.

"That is because you couldn't find a nicer guy than Dr. G!" Thank you, Cameo, for those kind words. As I have said, you have beauty, class and a special grace that all may see, but only a poet could appreciate and understand.


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## singingcrow

The nicer you are... Yep. I think it is correct, it's just the way you use it.


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## Dr.G.

Singingcrow, the nicer you are to doxies the nicer they shall be with you. One's niceness and their demonstration of a nicety or two will lead to a nicer doxie, and a nicer doxie leads to a nicer world.


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## singingcrow

Ahhh! But of course Dr. G.. The doxies are the happiest in their reverie of thou who went forth and was the nicer of all in the land of doxies.


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## Dr.G.

Singingcrow, one only needs a brief encounter, lasting but a few moments, to understand and appreciate the joys of loving a doxie. Paix, mon ami.


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## Dr.G.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Matthew McConaughey has been named the "sexiest man alive" by People magazine.
_________________________________________________________

For the 10th year in a row, I lost again. Luckily, I have nice friends like all of you who treat me nicely, and are even nicer to me when we are in The Shang.


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## SINC

Dr.G. said:


> NEW YORK (AP) -- Matthew McConaughey has been named the "sexiest man alive" by People magazine.
> _________________________________________________________
> 
> For the 10th year in a row, I lost again. Luckily, I have nice friends like all of you who treat me nicely, and are even nicer to me when we are in The Shang.


How about we name you the "man alive" by Shang Story Magazine this year?


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## Dr.G.

Sinc, how about "The Man with the Most Doxies"??? That would be truthful, unless there is someone out there with more than 10 doxies. I know of a few folks with a doxies here in ehMacLand (e.g., MannyP), but I think 10 doxies would secure the award for me.


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## SINC

OK, we'll bestow the "It's nicer to have 10 doxies" award on you today!


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## Dr.G.

Sinc, I shall go to the Shang and provide free drinks for one and all to celebrate the birth of the doxies, which made the award possible.


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## rgray

...... is 'nicer' valider than what???


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## Dr.G.

Nicer is more valid than just about anything.


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## BigDL

Nicer is nicer to hear than funer. I hear children and young adults make statements such as “that game was funer than this one.”

It is scary to think if this practice keeps on “funer” will be an acceptable word sometime in the future. 

Interesting that the strength of the english language is how malleable it is.


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## Dr.G.

BigDL, linguistically speaking, you are correct with your contention that English is "malleable", in that it is always evolving and transforming. English words with multiple meanings make learning English difficult, as does our use of slang. "Funner", as in "That game was funner than this one" while grammatically incorrect (i.e., "That game was more fun than this one"), still conveys the meaning of the speaker.


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## iNeedhelp

I've read through all four pages and, is it just me, or is nice/nicer losing its meaning?


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## Dr.G.

iNeedhelp, now your are getting into the area of a word's connotative meaning (i.e., an implied meaning of a word) and the specifics of denotation (i.e., the literal meaning or the dictionary meaning of a word). Words don't lose their meaning, they just take on different meanings...............or they become archaic (e.g., hoop skirts).


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