Le 17 oct. 12 à 17:26, Joel Wilcox a écrit :
> On Tue, Oct 16, 2012, at 12:27 PM, philippe.amard wrote:
>>
>> Le 16 oct. 12 à 10:53, Piers Hemy a écrit :
>>
>>> I have come across similar usages in slang English, Philippe, such
>>> as "That
>>> was wicked" meaning not bad, but exceptionally good.
>>>
>>
>> Nice as grumpy/simpleton is the original meaning of the word in old
>> French - went to mean pleasant when it crossed the Channel and
>> started
>> driving on the wrong side of the road probably.
>
> Not according to the OED. "Nice" as "pleasant" is a fairly recent
> shift.
What I wrote I think, with reservation on the date cf. 'probably'.
> It often meant "precise" and "exacting" -- which are often
> negative in connotation.
>
Exactly, what I initially said is it is still used in some areas such
as mine :-)
> Also, mightn't one argue that post-1066 English is actually a kind of
> French, one that has added to it a lot of Anglo-Saxon words? Didn't
> Henry V arrive at Agincourt precisely because he believed he was the
> true king of France?
>
Who said English was French with a bad accent? ;-)
> Joel W.
> New France
:-)
Philippe
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