Why is nice used as a compliment?

ArthurMacArthur · 2016-02-17T17:21:14+00:00

Why, if they are aware of /r/niceguys stuff, would they try to use this shit as a compliment?

Why do you assume that anybody is aware of this? "Nice" is a generic compliment that people use when they don't know a person very well, or aren't terribly invested in that person. It is the equivalent of "How are you?" "I'm fine; yourself?"

Why do you care how people compliment you?

KelIy_C · 2016-02-17T17:26:02+00:00

"Nice" is a, well, nice quality to have. My man is very nice. He's also incredibly hot, fascinating, talented, funny, passionate, devoted, amazing-in-every-way, etc. "Nice" is only a non-compliment when it's the only thing people have to say about you.

jeezydasnowman · 2016-02-17T17:19:31+00:00

Because everyone is nice. It's a safe, politically correct, social norm. The neighbors are nice. The janitor is nice. The guy who showed you where the egg noodles were at the store was nice. It's as common as to say How's it going after you greet someone to refer to others in your life as nice people.

midnightvulpine · 2016-02-17T17:36:02+00:00

Nice as a descriptor has little to do with NiceGuys for the overwhelming majority of the world. Nice is a basic way of describing someone who isn't an obvious asshole. So, believe it or not, likely most people who call you that aren't insulting you.

This is the problem with getting too deep into this stuff. You run the risk of seeing things in a skewed way. The word nice starts to seem like a bad word because it happens to be a small part of a negative stereotype.

abacuz4 · 2016-02-17T17:37:42+00:00

It's not an insult, but it's definitely damning with faint praise.

AnnoyingSeaAnt · 2016-02-17T18:18:52+00:00

Good job, you got internet based paranoia. Nice is just the generic-est compliment you can get , and thus it isn't worth much, that's all.

wtknight · 2016-02-17T18:29:28+00:00

In my opinion, "nice" is the minimal compliment that one person can give another person. In the normal woman's scale for men, there are roughly five levels - "creep," "not worth noticing," "nice," "interesting/attractive" and "hot/sexy." Thus, being truly "nice" (rather than the creepy "nice guy") is better than being not worth noticing, but you're definitely not interesting or attractive to her.

wuboo · 2016-02-17T19:02:05+00:00

Some people are genuinely kind. For me there are different types of niceness. It's hard to describe what makes the distinction but some people's niceness come off as superficial and laced with ulterior motives.

GaiusScaevolus · 2016-02-17T17:23:57+00:00

'Nice' is meaningless as it's generally used. It's basically saying that, to you, an individual lacks any defining or really positive traits, but is not so objectionable that you feel it's acceptable to actually insult them.

Generally, if someone describes a person as 'nice', I take it as a synonym for boring.

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Anarchkitty · 2016-02-17T20:28:15+00:00

Basically there's a difference between someone being nice, and someone being a Nice Guy^TM .

Yangel · 2016-02-17T20:56:10+00:00

Wow, had the same problem once. Was not nice at all, but people called me that. I guess whenever you're quiet, inoffensive and have manners, you're pretty nice, I guess. I doubt they are trying to insult you. But you're probably right to want something else to be your most distinguishing feature.

Xemnas81 · 2016-02-17T23:32:50+00:00

Depends on the social context /thread

Title	Why is nice used as a compliment?
Author	Yangel
Upvotes	1
Comments	20
Date	February 17, 2016 5:11 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/469q5g/why_is_nice_used_as_a_compliment/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/why-is-nice-used-as-a-compliment.276188 https://theredarchive.com/post/276188

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