Main PageBusiness Secrets from the StarsEssaysNovels & Short StoriesAnother Chance at Life: A Breast Cancer Survivor's Journey)Tell a friend about this pageE-mail

Introduction and Table of Contents



Were I but King of Anglophonia

Nicety

This word comes from an old meaning of nice — small, fine. For example, a nice distinction is one that relies on small details between two things to distinguish one from the other. Thus, a nicety is a small, important detail. The social niceties are the small but important social customs that make it easier for people to coexist pleasantly.

Nicety does not mean a pleasant or appealing characteristic. So, for example, if your new car came with satellite radio already installed, that is certainly a nice feature in the currently common sense of nice, but it is not a nicety. If you turn the volume of your car radio down when you have the windows open in order not to annoy other people, you are being a nice fellow who observes the social niceties.



Introduction and Table of Contents

Main PageBusiness Secrets from the StarsEssaysNovels & Short StoriesAnother Chance at Life: A Breast Cancer Survivor's JourneyTell a friend about this pageE-mail