Pretty, nice, silly: shades of meaning

nice

The history of this word is quite different. The positive senses popular today are rather recent. The etymological note in the OED summarizes this odd history:

< Anglo-Norman nice, nis, nise and Old French nice (c1160; c1250 as niche; now French regional) <classical Latin nescius (see nescious adj.). Compare Old Occitan nesci (c1150; also attested as neci, nesi, nessi; Occitan neci), Spanish necio (1220–50), Catalan neci, nici (both 14th cent.), Portuguesenecio (14th cent.; 15th cent. as néscio), Italian nescio (1321), all in sense ‘foolish, simple, ignorant’.

Notes

The semantic development of this word from ‘foolish, silly’ to ‘pleasing’ is not paralleled in Latin or in the Romance languages. The precise sense development in English is unclear. New English Dictionary (OED first edition) (1906) s.v. notes that ‘in many examples from the 16th and 17th cent. it is difficult to say in what particular sense the writer intended it to be taken’.

A few entries show this change, with maybe a hint or two of what emerged in the sixteenth century might have transformed the senses of the word.

ADJECTIVE

1.a. c1300–1617

Of a person: foolish, silly, simple; ignorant. Obsolete.

1.b. a1393–1657

Of an action, utterance, etc.: displaying foolishness or silliness; absurd, senseless. Obsolete.

2.a. a1387–1665

Of conduct, behaviour, etc.: characterized by or encouraging wantonness or lasciviousness. Obsolete.

2.b. a1393–1605

Of a person: wanton, dissolute, lascivious. Obsolete.

Here we see the beginning of the shift:

2.c. 1395–1771

Of dress: extravagant, showy, ostentatious. Also in extended use. Obsolete.

2.d. c1400–1580

Of a person: finely dressed, elegant. Cf. Phrases P.3a. Obsolete.

3.a. c1387–

Precise or particular in matters of reputation or conduct; scrupulous, punctilious. Now rare.

3.b. c1400–

Fastidious, fussy, difficult to please, esp. with regard to food or cleanliness; of refined or dainty tastes.

3.c. 1584–1861

† Particular, strict, or careful with regard to a specific point or thing. Obsolete.

Now, in Shakespeare's era, we see the step toward our dominant modern sense:

3.d. 1588–

Refined, cultured; associated with polite society.

3.f. 1799–

Respectable, virtuous, decent.

3.g. 1863–

Of a topic of conversation, mode of conduct, etc.: in good taste, appropriate, proper. Usually in negative contexts.

4.a. a1393–1703

In early use: faint-hearted, timorous, cowardly. Later also: exhibiting qualities or characteristics regarded as feminine and inappropriate in a man (sometimes with the implication of homosexuality). Obsolete.

4.b. a1398–1604

Slothful, lazy, sluggish. Obsolete.

4.c. c1450–1813

Not able to endure much; tender, delicate, fragile. Obsolete.

4.d. 1621–1720

Pampered, luxurious. Obsolete. rare.

5. c1395–1703

† Strange, rare, extraordinary. Obsolete.

6.a. a1400–1823

Shy, coy, (affectedly) modest; reserved. Obsolete.

6.b. a1560–1699

Shy, reluctant, or unwilling in regard of or to. Also with in or infinitive. Obsolete.

7.a. ?a1500–

Not obvious or readily understood; difficult to decide or settle; demanding close consideration; †intricate (obsolete).

7.b. 1561–

Minute, subtle; (of differences) slight, small.

7.c.  1710–

Precise in correspondence; exact, closely judged.

8. a1522–

That requires or involves great precision or accuracy. Now rare.

9.a. 1567–1749

Slender, thin, fine; insubstantial. Obsolete.

9.b. a1594–1684

Unimportant, trivial. Obsolete.

Here we see our first hints of the modern shift.

10.a. 1589–1864

† That enters minutely into details; meticulous, attentive, sharp. Obsolete.

10.b. 1593–

Of the eye, ear, etc.: able to distinguish or discriminate to a high degree; sensitive, acute.

10.c. a1631–

Delicate or skilful in manipulation; dexterous. Also figurative.

10.d. 1697–

Of judgement, etc.: finely discriminative.

11.a. 1598–1822

Critical, doubtful; full of risk or uncertainty. Obsolete.

11.b. a1630–1858

Requiring tact, care, or discrimination in handling. Obsolete.

12.a. 1600–

Minutely or carefully accurate.

12.b. a1628–1875

† Of an instrument or apparatus: capable of showing minute differences; finely poised or adjusted. Obsolete.

13. 1709–

Of food or drink: dainty, choice; (later in weakened sense) tasty, appetizing; refreshing, restorative.

Only in the eighteenth century do we see our current dominant sense.

14.a. 1747–

That one derives pleasure or satisfaction from; agreeable, pleasant, satisfactory; attractive.

14.b. 1796–

Used as an intensifier with a predicative adjective or adverb in nice and ——, sometimes ironically.

14.c. 1797–

Of a person: pleasant in manner, agreeable, good-natured; attractive.

14.d. 1798–

Used ironically.

14.e. 1830–

Kind or considerate in behaviour; friendly (towards others). Frequently in to be nice (to).

14.f. 1850–

Of a (finished) action, task, etc.: well-executed; commendably performed or accomplished. Now frequently in interjections, as nice going!, nice try!, nice work!. Also used ironically or sarcastically.

14.g. 1970–

colloquial. nice one: expressing approval or congratulations for something done well. In later use also ironically.

Popularized by the song Nice One Cyril, used in a television commercial for bread in the early 1970s, and recorded in 1973 by the Tottenham Hotspur football team (associated with the former Tottenham player Cyril Knowles).

silly

This history is somewhat different. One of the original meanings, derived from its Germanic ancestor, has not been identified after 1825:

ADJECTIVE

• I. † Senses relating to worthiness or blessedness.

  • I.1. Chiefly Scottish.

  • I.1.a. Worthy, good. Also: pious, holy. Cf. seely adj. 4. Obsolete.  a1450–182

Its now almost utterly deceased relative seely, meaning blessed, pious, morally good, or innocent contains the tinge of meaning that now dominates silly. Here's the etymology:

Common West Germanic: Old English *sǽlig (implied in the synonymous gesǽlig i-seli adj., and in the adverb séliglíce seelily adv.) = Old Frisian sêlich (modern North Frisian salig, West Frisian sillich), Old Saxon sâlig, Middle Dutch sâlech (Dutch zalig), Old High German sâlig (Middle High Germansælic, modern German selig) < Germanic type *sǣligo- < *sǣli-z luck, happiness (Gothic sêls, Old English sǽl: see sele n.). In ordinary modern English the word is represented by silly adj., n., & adv., a form which arose in the 15th cent. from a shortening of the vowel, the pronunciation of which had changed from  /eː/  to something approaching  /iː/  .

If you listened to the Lexicon Valley podcast episode about the word business  that I mentioned in last week's email, you'll have a sense of the sound changes we'll discuss more fully next week.