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| Etymological Reason Why Nice Guys Finish Last https://www.pick-up-artist-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=88124 |
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| Author: | NashLife [ Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Etymological Reason Why Nice Guys Finish Last |
I think I'm the only one who has made this connection. If someone else has, I apologize I was unaware. As I mentioned in another thread, I study linguistics as part of my work. Etymology is an area of linguistics exploring the history of words. I unintentionally found this discovery. Here is the history of the word, "Nice." The first word indicates what language it is in, in parenthesis is the date, and after is the meaning. The history goes from most recent meaning of the word ,"Nice," to its original meaning. Read, down to the bottom. At first, everything is as usual with the word, "Nice." English (1830): kind, thoughtful English (1769): agreeable, delightful English (1500′s) precise, careful English (1400′s) dainty, delicate Now here is where everything goes wrong for the so called, “NICE,” guy. English (late-1300′s) fussy, fastidious English (pre-1300) timid The word nice was borrowed from old French. Entering English Through the Influence of French. French (late 1200′s) foolish, stupid, senseless French (Pre-1200′s) silly, foolish The original meaning of the word, "Nice," came from Latin. Traced Back From Latin Influence on French: Latin (nescire = not + know) Not Knowing Latin (nescius = condition of not knowing) ignorant So basically when a girl says you are, "nice," she is saying you are: stupid, silly, and ignorant. |
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| Author: | 0000000000000000000008287 [ Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
That would imply... knowledge from previous generations is carried over to the next and that we have all knowledge from our ancestors locked away in the unconscious... OR you could accept that language is a fluid living thing like culture and is constantly evolving |
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| Author: | NashLife [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:10 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Quote: That would imply... knowledge from previous generations is carried over to the next and that we have all knowledge from our ancestors locked away in the unconscious...
Awesome observation, very correct and I'm wondering whether you have some experience with linguistics or are just well read.OR you could accept that language is a fluid living thing like culture and is constantly evolving That is actually a huge, a huge area of debate in linguistics--I mean huge. In essence because of this debate as well as other reasons, a new area of linguistics was formed called psycholinguistics. Currently, no one really has an answer. However, there are two extreme camps in linguistics. One camp is what you suggest language changes over time depending on context, that is generally in the area called Pragmatism--not exclusively but generally, the tough part of linguistics is that there is a lot of overlap and making any distinction requires some form of assumption. The other camp comes from Universal Linguistics, which basically ties language to evolutionary biology. To a certain degree-again this up for debate as well--people inherit language just as we inherit eye color or hair color. So while someone closer to the pragmatist camp, would agree with you. Someone closer to the Universal Linguistics camp would disagree and indicate that at a subconscious level a women who uses the term, "nice," to describe a man is at some level tapping into a primitive area of the brain where, "nice," is most authentically imprinted and are subconsciously communicating the more ingrained meaning. |
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| Author: | BornInABurialGown [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:16 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Etymological Reason Why Nice Guys Finish Last |
Try 1887 with Nietzsche's, 'On the Genealogy of Morals'. Good only became moral when the priests inverted the term for their own benefit. Good originally meant lively, powerful and full of strength.. I'm surprised you think you're the first to discover this. |
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| Author: | NashLife [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:11 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Etymological Reason Why Nice Guys Finish Last |
Quote: Try 1887 with Nietzsche's, 'On the Genealogy of Morals'. Good only became moral when the priests inverted the term for their own benefit. Good originally meant lively, powerful and full of strength.. I'm surprised you think you're the first to discover this.
Oh, I've read the Genealogy of Morality as well as other works by Nietzsche as well as Hegel, Kant and Schopenhauer. Nietzsche, was a philologist so certainly he would have been aware of how language changes over time. However any suggestion by Nietzsche as to why the change occurred, like the majority of his work, is based purely on speculation. Nietzsche is an interesting philosopher in the sense that he really is playing with the reader. He will state, restate, then contradict what he stated and unabashedly so. The two biggest mistakes people make in reading Nietzsche is firstly not reading his predecessors, and secondly assuming he wants to be understood. Practically everything Nietzsche wrote was in response to previous philosophers. Everything else that he writes about is largely Absurdist. So for example when he writes, "God is Dead," he is largely responding to Schopenhauer and his World as Will. Also, he is responding to the decadence of his generation. There are major debates among philosophers whether in stating, "God is Dead," Nietzsche meant it in the absolute or whether he meant it relative to the habits of his contemporaries and the idealism of previous works. I mean everything Nietzsche wrote was written by him intentionally to be debated, or as he, himself indicates sardonically, "ruminated over." However from my education and my understanding, the only truly valid way to interpret Nietzsche is in light of his generation and his predecessors. Bringing his back to the etymology of, "nice." The term, "nice guy," did not exist in Nietzsche's time. The word, "nice," alone may have been used. However, there is no specific evidence the word itself was generally associated with a type of man. That is purely a more contemporary use of the word, "nice." Consequently, any relevance to Nietzsche in the debate of the term, "nice guy," is at most perfunctory but more accurately irrelevant. |
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