y are used now, to
describe the condition of a person whose head "swims;" this now became
their general meaning, though _giddy_ has gone back again to something
of its old meaning in its later use to describe a person's conduct. A
_giddy_ person is another description for one of frivolous character.

The word _nice_ has had a rather more varied history. It had its
original meaning of "foolish" from the literal meaning of the Latin
word _nescius_, "ignorant," from which it was derived. Gradually it
came to mean "foolishly particular about small things;" and we still
have a similar use of the word, as when we say a person has a "nice
taste in wines," or is a "nice observer," or speak of a "nice
distinction," by which we mean a subtle distinction not very easily
observed. But this is, of course, not the commonest sense in which we
use the word. By _nice_ we generally mean the opposite of _nasty_. A
"nice" observer was a good observer, and from this kind of idea the
word _nice_ came to have the general sense of "good" in some way.
_Nice_ is not a particularly dignified word, and is little used by
good writers, except in its more special and earlier sense. It is,
perhaps, less used in America than in England, and it is interesting
to notice that _nasty_, the word which in English always seems to be
the opposite of _nice_, is not considered a respectable word in
America, where it has kept its earlier meaning of "filthy," or
absolutely disgusting in some way.

Again, the word _disgust_, by which we express complete loathing for
anything, used merely to mean "dislike" or "distaste." In the same
way, the word _loathe_, by which we mean "to hate" or feel the
greatest disgust for, originally meant merely "to dislike." The
stronger meaning came from the fact that the word was often used to
describe the dislike a sick person feels for food. Every one knows how
strong this feeling can be, and it is from this that _loathe_ and
_loathsome_ took the strong meaning they now have. Curiously enough,
the adjective _loath_ or _loth_, from the same word, has kept the old
mild meaning. When we say we are "loth" to do a thing, we do not mean
that we hate doing it, but merely that we feel rather unwilling to do
it. In Old English, too, the word _filth_ and its derivative _foul_
were not quite such strong words as _dirt_ and _dirty_.

Again, the words _stench_ and _stink_ in Old English meant merely
"smell" or "odour." One could then speak of