“Nice” is not so ‘nice’

 

Pic credit: Dictionaries of synonyms - copyeditor.se

“Nice”. Whenever I hear the word ‘nice’, I am immediately transported back to my Standard Three (Grade 5) class at Arcadia Primary in Pretoria, with Mrs Kramer sharing her (sometimes quite violent) disdain for the word ‘nice’.

‘Nice’ is not a word that you included in your essays or speeches unless you were up for humiliation in front of the whole class. Oh, the terror of it! This did force you to quickly learn better adjectives when describing anything.

The other day while watching a show where people were investing a ton of money into their dream home, I was flabbergasted at the frequency they were using the word ‘nice’ to describe some of the most impressive spaces imaginable. ‘Oh, that’s a nice… kitchen, garden, bedroom <insert any space>…’, it was incredibly irritating, and rather disappointing that these remarkable spaces were being reduced to a ‘nice’. All I was thinking every time I heard them gushing about how ‘nice’ the place was, was ‘read a book!” and appreciating Mrs Kramer’s violent tendencies towards the word more and more.

But! Since seeing the program and being mindful of just how judgemental I had become, I realised with much shock and horror, how often I was using the word! It is just so true, the things that irritate you about others, is more often than not what irritates you most about yourself. Every time I now hear myself or anyone else saying ‘nice’, it’s as if an alarm goes off in my head, and quite honestly, I am sure that I see red! Pretty much what I imagine Mrs Kramer saw all those years ago.  

It’s such a lazy word. Every time I hear it or hear myself saying it I just think to myself, ‘Read more!’, that is one of the sure fire ways to help expand your vocabulary.

At Reputation Matters my team is encouraged to read at least one book a month. Believing in leading by example it’s my personal aim to read at least two books a month.  (Although, with that said I clearly need to read considerably more if I want to reduce the amount of times I say 'nice'. 'Like' and 'Absolutely' are right up there with the words that I use far too often).

Vocabulary impacts your success. As Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, so aptly says, "Vocabulary enables us to interpret and to express. If you have a limited vocabulary, you will also have a limited vision and a limited future." He adds, “Don’t just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it."

Start focussing on how many people use the word ‘nice’, and you’ll quickly realise just how often it is (over)used, and hopefully it will also start irritating you just as much. 

What is the one word that you think is overused and needs an immediate replacement?

#launguage #nice #nicenotnice