*nice is noise*
Sunday, October 24th, 2010 | news&Events
the following is a blog post written for a new business project i’ve recently undertaken w/ some friends: INos
*why ‘nice’ is noise*
seeking forwarding options for communication?
…think: ‘eschew obfuscation’
because an organization will develop a culture of its own whether it is purposefully shaped or not,
it’s worth while to consciously craft a culture
that reflects the organization’s intents & endeavors
…an important part of culture crafting is a discerning approach to language
…because language shapes perception in overt & subtle ways, care must be taken that conceptual framing & word choice consistently reflect, define, & reinforce organizational (& individual) core values
…to this end we at INos have come up w/ a, (constantly expanding), list of what we call ‘watch-it words’; that is, words that require a special degree of care in their use
(stay tuned for more about this list of words in later blogs)
…one of the words that has recently made our watch-it list is the seemingly innocuous; ‘nice’
…’nice’ is a word most of us use nearly every day, but did you know that the Latin root of the word is; ‘nescius’ meaning ignorant, literally; ‘not-knowing’? (ne = ‘not’ & scire = ‘to know’)
…the development of the meaning of the word ‘nice’ has been described by linguists as; ‘extraordinary, even for an adjective’
…some history then;
pre-1300 the word ‘nyce’ in English was used to mean; ‘foolish’ or ‘ignorant’, (the word was most probably borrowed from the old French; ‘nice’, meaning; ‘silly’), although several other meanings, including; ‘timid’, are found in Middle English for this time period
…over time it’s meaning evolved further;
to ‘fussy, fastidious’ in the late 14th century
to ‘dainty, delicate’ circa1400
to ‘precise, careful’ in 1500s,
(it is still used as such, think; ‘nice & early’, or; ‘a nice, even spoonful’ & its cousin the noun; ‘nicety’ also designates a kind of distinction)
…by the 16th & 17th century it was often difficult to determine exactly what was meant when a writer used word ‘nice’ …the overuse that would eventually wring most of the word’s meaning out of it had begun
…by 1769 nice had come to mean ‘agreeable, delightful’
by 1830; ‘kind, thoughtful’
…by 1926, it was pronounced by linguist & English language style guide author H.W. Fowler as; “too great a favorite with the ladies, who have charmed out of it all its individuality and converted it into a mere diffuser of vague and mild agreeableness”
…setting Fowler’s chauvinism aside, we get the point, the word nice comes to us now in the early part of the 21st century, gently spiraling out in multiple directions, each w/ no ultimate destination of meaning
…at best we can say that the word indicates a sort of measured & agreeable distinction, although of exactly what sort,
it is difficult to be entirely certain
…nice is an unnecessary obfuscation, in a word, it is; ‘noise’
…still, is that too harsh? …well, let’s talk about noise for a minute;
-noise is that which blocks, distorts, changes or interferes w/ the meaning of a message in communication
…the word noise is generally taken to mean an unwanted sound, though it is also used to refer to other unwanted phenomenon
…in electronics, noise is perturbation to a signal; like the noise heard in a weak radio transmission
…in computing terms, it is data without meaning;
data not being used to transmit a signal, produced as a by-product of other activities
…’signal-to-noise ratio’ is the ratio of useful information to false or irrelevant data in a conversation or exchange, such as off-topic posts or spam in online forums & communities
…while it is probably safe to say that most words go thru an evolution of meanings, when a word has been tumbled down a path that brings it to a place more ambiguous than precise, it has become noise
…the use of pleasant ambiguities like ‘nice’ skews the signal to noise ratio in our lives away from clarity & authenticity, towards polite but vacuous non-conclusions
…& thus; ‘nice’ ends up on the INos ‘watch-it list’
…please note that the words on this list are not banned or even discouraged exactly, but we believe that they require a certain degree of mindfulness in their use
…we at INos invite you to consider all the ways in your life that language shapes perception, the obvious & the subtle associations words develop as they are shaped by human society & our animal natures
…consider the meanings & senses, as well as the dictionary definitions, etymologies & origins of the words you speak every day; do they help define, & reinforce your core values? …monitoring the signal to noise ratio of seemingly innocuous or mundane language choices plays an important part in purposefully shaping & consciously crafting the culture of organizations & relationships so that they consistently reflect our inspiration, intention & vision
