nice
make nice (or nice-nice) be pleasant or polite to someone, typically in a hypocritical way. informal, chiefly North American
2019Polly ToynbeeGuardian Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will go on making nice in an agreed charade to persuade the EU that delay could bring a cross-party pact.
naughty but nice: seenaughty.
nice as pie: seepie.
a nice little earner: seeearner.
nice one used to express approval. informal
☞ The expression was propelled into public consciousness by the phrase 'Nice one, Cyril', originally used in a 1972 television advert for Wonderloaf bread and subsequently taken up by Tottenham Hotspur supporters as a chant celebrating the footballer Cyril Knowles. It is often used ironically.
2013New Zealand Herald The other downside is if the phone gets stolen or broken, you're stuck in the overpriced contract for two years with no phone. Nice one.
nice work if you can get it used to express envy of what is perceived to be another person's more favourable situation, especially if they seem to have reached it with little effort. informal
☞ Nice work if you can get it was the title of an Ira Gershwin song from 1937.
no more Mr Nice Guy used to suggest that you will stop being lenient and begin to adopt more severe measures.