Re: etymology of tl;dr (was ... Re: How recover from aborted dist-upgrade ... (due to apt-listbug bug 585448))
On Sun, 16 Dec 2012 14:17:42 -0700
Bob Proulx <bob@proulx.com> wrote:
...
> Language continuously evolves. The spoken language of Shakespeare is
> almost impossible for me to understand when listened to with my ears.
> And I am sure the reverse would be too. "Cool" never goes out of
> style. "Nice" is pretty stable. But "rad", "sweet", "sick", "wicked"
As someone else in this thread alluded (Lisi?), 'nice' has actually
undergone a considerable evolution. Dictionary.com gives these five
definitions [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nice]:
1. pleasing; agreeable; delightful: a nice visit.
2. amiably pleasant; kind: They are always nice to strangers.
3. characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision,
skill, tact, care, or delicacy: nice workmanship; a nice shot; a nice
handling of a crisis.
4. showing or indicating very small differences; minutely accurate, as
instruments: a job that requires nice measurements.
5. minute, fine, or subtle: a nice distinction.
The first two describe common contemporary usage, while the term used
to be used mostly (exclusively) in the sense of the last two (the third
seems a sort of hybrid between them).
> only time will tell if they make it long term.
Celejar
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