Nice

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 19:26:03 +0000, Jonathon Green <slang at ABECEDARY.NET>
wrote:

>This would seem to be a transatlantic cousin, even descendant, of the
>UK's 'nice one!', often modified as 'nice one, my son'.

I would have guessed that "nice going!" was the predecessor in AmEng.
OED3 has it from 1938 ("nice work!" from 1914), but it looks like the
interjection was relatively common by the mid- to late '20s:

-----
Atlanta Constitution, Aug 12, 1910, p. 10
Fisher was responsible for all the runs. He scored the first on Sid's
triple, drove in the second and third with his homer and scored the fourth
himself. Pretty nice going, that.
-----
Appleton Post Crescent (Wisc.), Oct 22, 1925, p. 17
Nice going, Adolphus. But you got us a trifle wrong.
-----
Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisc.), Oct 4, 1926, p. 11
Many people who are aware of the consistent bowling of "Bill" Zarling,
thought it must have been he. However, no such luck, it was his brother,
"Wally" who decided to get himself up among the bowlers. Nice going,
"Wally!"
-----
Chicago Tribune, Feb 5, 1927, p. 17 (personal advt.)
Cherries: I've been practically swamped with responses to pleas for
feminine companionship. Nice going!
-----
Port Arthur News (Tex.), June 29, 1927, p. 10
He shut out the Bears 4 to 0 with one hit last Friday and on Tuesday of
that week he relieved Brown in the fifth inning of a game against Waco and
held the Cubs to a single safety for the remainder of the route, finally
winning out in the eleventh inning. Nice going!
-----


--Ben Zimmer