老外總掛在嘴邊的萬能詞彙nice

How often do you use the word "nice"? I have no idea how many times I physically utter the word "nice" in a single day, but I'd guess it's a lot.
你有多經常用到“nice”這個詞呢？我不知道我每天具體要說多少次“nice”，但我覺得次數一定少不了。

So: How can one word serve as the appropriate response to both impending doom and caffeine breaks?
那麼，這個詞怎麼能既適用於大難臨頭的場合，又適用於茶歇時間呢？

According to lexicon history, "nice" has led an erratic existence. Over the years, "nice" has meant everything from "lewd" to "coy" to "kind." Oxford Dictionaries cruises through the meandering history of the word on its blog.
根據詞彙歷史學，“nice”是一個捉摸不定的詞。若干年來，它曾具備各種各樣的含義，從“下流的”到“靦腆的”到“和善的”，牛津詞典就在博客上回顧了這個詞曲折的歷史。

The word "nice," Oxford claims, has pretty negative roots in the Latin "nescius," meaning "ignorant." But it really took off in the 14th century as a term for something foolish or silly. The negative connotations ballooned from there. "Nice" was used to refer to a variety of less-than-great sentiments including wantonness, extravagance, ostentation, lasciviousness, cowardice and sloth. Like, "Teobaldus, your fear of the Black Plague is nice."
牛津詞典稱“nice”一詞源自拉丁語裏的貶義詞“nescius”，意思是“無知的”。但它實際上是從14世紀開始作爲表示愚蠢或傻的詞彙，而其貶義的內涵也是從那時候開始越來越濃重的。“nice”一詞攜帶了各種不太好的感情色彩，包括“淫亂”、“放縱”、“賣弄”、“好色”、“懦弱”、“懶惰”等含義。舉個毛栗子：“提奧巴杜斯，你害怕黑死病這種事兒是很nice的。”

Dive deeper into the Middle Ages, and the meaning deflated. The word started to hint not at ostentation or cowardice but shyness and reserve; not in a negative way, but certainly not yet positively. Let's call it neutral. Like, "Baignard's goat is nice."
對中世紀挖掘得再深一點，會發現這個詞的意義縮水了。它不再有“賣弄”或“懦弱”的意思，而開始表示“羞怯”或“保守”；不算是貶義，但也絕對還沒變成褒義詞。我們就說它是個中性詞吧，例如：“柏格納德的山羊很nice。”

Folks in the 17th and 18th centuries, though, they loved modesty. (Just consider the clothes.) And as a result, "nice" began to take on a more positive tone. As Oxford points out, "nice" started to connote respectability and virtue, refined taste and polite mannerisms. Like, "Cornelia's lofty neckline and bulbous skirt are nice."
然而，17世紀和18世紀的人喜歡低調（想想他們的衣服就秒懂了）。因此，“nice”這個詞開始出現了更爲褒義的調調。正如牛津詞典指出的，“nice”開始意指“高尚”和“美德”、“雅緻的品味”及“禮貌的舉止”。例如：“科妮莉婭的高領裝和蓬蓬裙很nice。”

By the 19th century, use of the word "nice" was not only loaded with a history of confusing meanings, it was also so ubiquitously tossed about Jane Austen had to pen a quippy bit of dialogue about it. In 1817's Northanger Abbey, character Henry Tilney gently chastises Catherine Morland for her overuse of the word:
到19世紀，“nice”一詞不僅因爲歷史原因具備了諸多令人迷惑的含義，而且它無所不在，隨處可用，以至於簡·奧斯汀也不得不爲此寫了一段俏皮的對話。在1817年的《諾桑覺寺》中，亨利·提爾尼就溫和地批評了凱瑟琳·莫蘭對這個詞的濫用：

"And this is a very nice day; and we are taking a very nice walk; and you are two very nice young ladies," he jests. "Oh, it is a very nice word, indeed! It does for everything."
他戲謔道：“今天是個很nice的日子，我們正在很nice地散步，你們是兩位很nice的女士。哦，那真的是一個很nice的詞！它哪裏都能用！”

Fast forward to today, and "nice" is still everywhere. Sure, "nice" tends to mean kind, pleasing, polite and friendly, but it can also still mean something along the lines of "socially acceptable" or even "harmless." Toss a "too" in front of it, and "nice" resembles its earlier definitions: ostentatious or extravagant. Pop an "I guess" after it, and "nice" sounds like a full-fledged neg. Elongate the "I" in it, and "niiice" becomes a knee-jerk response of an adverb like OK.
快進到今天，“nice”依然隨處可見。當然，“nice”可以表示“善良的”、“令人愉悅的”、“禮貌的”、“友好的”，但它也還是保留着“社會上普遍接受的”甚至是“無害的”的內涵。在前面加個“too”，它就有了先前的定義：“賣弄的”或“放縱的”。在後面加個“I guess”，“nice”這個詞聽起來就完全是貶義的了。把中間“i”的音拖長變成“niiice”呢，它就成了一聲隨口應答，就像“OK”那樣。

Basically, the meaninglessness of "nice" is just as confusing as ever. We seem to use the word whenever we don't know what else to say. Because, well, it works.
基本上，“nice”這個詞沒有什麼確定的意義，像從前一樣令人迷惑。我們好像只要不知道還能再說什麼，就用上這個詞——因爲，嗯，它就是這麼好用。