“Lovely”

I don’t mind ‘lovely’ as a verb (probably use it too often myself) but I’ve got mixed feelings about it being used as an endearment (“thank you, Lovely”) although Darling and Sweetheart aren’t any better. The term I hate is ‘amazing’ when used for something very prosaic such as offering the correct card in a store or giving your own name or birthdate or address or something over the phone to customer service. I always feel slightly miffed - because it comes across as the other person having stunningly low expectations of what I might be capable of… All they needed to say was ‘thanks’…

I take it you don’t watch Loraine Kelly she is the most annoyingly guilty person of this everything and everyone is lovely I can’t stand to watch her

Lovely not lovekey

Apart from the word loveky, my dear mum also hated the word Bless, which she deemed was used far too often by her contemporaries

Everyone I speak to says aww bless

MissAdventure

What would you use instead?

brilliant, great, wonderful, amazing, enjoyable, fantastic, incredible the world is your oyster, there are load to pick from, lovely is the best though. It is not too OTT yet masses better than nice which is not nice.

This thread is Ace, brill cool just cosmic😎👌🏻

"Lilypops", same here.....I thought I was the only one but now I realise I am not - they say it to everyone. A rude awakening....ha,ha,ha.

🎶 Isn’t this a lovely day,
To be caught in the r-a-i-n 🎶 ? No? Oh well

Rekarie

Lovely thread ✨️

Nice one!

Thank you so much for this. I have just got used to it over the years - every Whatsapp group message is "dear lovely doulas" and every potential client is "lovely". You have woken me up, torn the scales from my eyes, and made me swallow the lovely red pill. Enough lovely!

It's better than everyone being referred to as nasty.

Some years ago when my elderly, hyper-critical hypochondriacal mother was paying frequent visits to hospital, the doctor would send a letter from the clinic, describing her as "this pleasant lady".
One man's lovely....

It's better than the overused "fantastic" or even the F word.

55RosiesMaw2

I seem to remember being told to vary my adjectives in English lessons 60+ years ago.

If we used the word"nice" it would be crossed out in red and we had to submit a list of twenty words we could have used instead.

Kim19

I watch Pointless comparatively regularly and often see men introducing their team player as ' my lovely wife'. Ugh! (may well lead to divorce in my household!). However....a lovely day conjectures everything wonderful for me.

I suppose it's better than The Wife or Her Indoors!

Baby Bears porridge was *just right” as I recall😋

I watch Pointless comparatively regularly and often see men introducing their team player as ' my lovely wife'. Ugh! (may well lead to divorce in my household!). However....a lovely day conjectures everything wonderful for me.

JamesandJon33

We were always told not to use’ nice’ at school. So I suppose lovely took over. Exquisite, superlative etc are a bit over the top for somethings Just like baby Bear’s porridge

I was just about to say that!!

That last sentence made me laugh. We had a visitor's book in our holiday property and people used to write, "lovely pool, lovely grounds, lovely location" etc. One changeover day I looked in the book, and a teenager in the group had written a big "SICK" across the page. 🤣

My late DH often called female friends and relatives “sweet” and for some reason it always irritated me. (I wouldn’t call myself a sweet person..)
I’m going for spiffing to sum up something I really like, and am allergic to the use of “sick” by youngsters for the same thing. Ugh.

Oh, Dickens, I used to work beside someone who called everything and everyone 'awesome'. It used to drive me mad!

We were always told not to use’ nice’ at school. So I suppose lovely took over. Exquisite, superlative etc are a bit over the top for somethings Just like baby Bear’s porridge

It is rather ironic to comment on the overuse of a word that is straightforward, complimentary and positive
Why should it be ironic?
Not criticising the word but the overuse - you can always get too much of a good thing!

It is rather ironic to comment on the overuse of a word that is straightforward, complimentary and positive. Lovely is also cheerful, gentle and appreciative. All these are lovely qualities that I personally cannot experience enough of.
Dear readers, I am sitting in a lovely, comfy chair, enjoying lovely, smooth coffee after a lovely cheerful chat with my very lovely daughter. Have a lovely afternoon.