nice-nellyism

or nice-Nel·ly·ism

[ nahys-nel-ee-iz-uh m ]

/ ˈnaɪsˈnɛl iˌɪz əm /

noun

excessive modesty; prudishness.

a euphemism: an evasive style of writing, full of circumlocutions and nice-nellyisms.

QUIZZES

TAKE THIS QUIZ TO SEE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL PUNCTUATION!

Commas mark divisions in sentences. Periods end declarative sentences. Apostrophes show possession. Easy, right? Well, punctuation can get pretty tricky—fast. Think you got what it takes to be a punctuation expert? Take our quiz to prove it!

Question 1 of 10

Which of the options below is the best punctuation for the sentence? It__s your turn to pick the movie __ but your sister gets to pick the board game we _ re going to play.

Its your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.

It’s your turn to pick the movie but your sister gets to pick the board game were going to play.

It’s your turn to pick the movie, but your sister gets to pick the board game we’re going to play.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of nice-nellyism

First recorded in 1935–40; nice nelly + -ism

Words nearby nice-nellyism

nice, nice guys finish last, nice nelly, nice-looking, nice-nelly, nice-nellyism, nicene, nicene council, nicene creed, niceno-constantinopolitan creed, nicetas