Did your girlfriend impress you with an amazing meal? Maybe one of your friends pulled off a neat trick that was thoroughly impressive. In these cases simply saying that its nice or great may seem underwhelming.
Instead, you can use a different phrase that shows your appreciation and hypes them up at the same time. The word “noice” comes to mind. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of the expression.
Meaning
In the simplest of definitions, the term “noice” is simply just a slang counterpart for the word “nice”. In some cases, it holds more emotion than a casual “nice”, and is the word to say when “nice” just will not cut it. Noice means very good, very nice, or amazing. It is used to express that something is more that nice, but just short of out of this world.
“Noice” is also associated with mimicking British or Australian accents over text (especially Cockney or Norfolk accents), where they have a more rounded sounding vernacular than American English. Less commonly, “noice” is also associated with “bro culture”, which is given typically to the type of guy who is in a fraternity in college, call each other “dude”, and consume copious amounts of alcohol.
In general, “noice” indicates more familiarity and friendship between two people than “nice”. More information can be found in the video (here).
Example Usage
“Oh, you just got a new car? Noice, bro.”
“You ordered Chinese for dinner? Noice.”
“Wow, you just got promoted? Noice, dude.”
“You bought new clothes? Noice.”
“You just got into your dream college? Noice!”
Origin
Charles Dickins was a British author that lived from 1812 to 1870, and who wrote fifteen novels and hundreds of short stories. There are multiple instances of his writing in which he used the term “noice” as it is used today; that being, a way to say “nice”. Such instances of this are lines like “ye be noice chaps” in the novel Nicholas Nickleby.
“Noice” started becoming popular on the Internet in the early 2000s. It began appearing on sites like Wiktionary and 4Chan. In 2013, popular comedic duo Key and Peele released a video titled Nooice, which was about two “hype men” dancers fighting over who owned the term “noice”. But the term truly took off in 2015 when a video of British author Michael Rosen used the word while reading a now-popular children’s poem, Hot Food. The video has over twelve million views, and photos and videos of the author with the caption “noice” have become popular memes.
Also in 2015, Andy Samberg’s character on the popular show Brooklyn Nine-Nine adopted “noice” as a slogan, to the point that the term quickly came to be associated with his character. This led to another spike in popularity of the term in 2016.
Phrases Similar to Noice
- Yessir
- Periodt
- Good/great/amazingetc.
- HYB, meaning “hell yeah brother”
- Nice job
- Congratulations
Phrases Opposite to Noice
- Nah
- Nope/no/no way/etc
- Ew
- Lame
What is the Correct Saying?
- “Noice” is another way to say “nice”.
Incorrect Ways People May Say Noice
“Noice” is simply another way to say “nice”. Incorrect uses of this term would be if you intended to say “no” or express your displeasure about something. If you use the word “noice” at the end of a sentence that would imply something was definitely not nice, that would also be incorrect. Some ways that “noice” is used incorrectly are:
- Oh my god, you wrecked your car? Noice.
- You forgot to take out the trash earlier? Noice.
- You just lost your job? Noice.
- I can’t believe you cheated on me. Noice.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Noice
- Coach made you captain of the team? Noice.
- That triple half back flip Jimmy pulled off was sure Noice!
- You just shotgunned three beers at once? Noice, dude.
- You got an A on the chemistry final? Noice!
- I can’t believe you caught that ball. Noice!