proper manners

[wasp]

Where and why did the stupid expression NICE ONE originate ? Amazing the lengths to which people will go
to avoid saying thank you !

[pips1]

I don't know, it's like 'have a good day' which is just said for the sake of it, I wouldn't think they genuinely mean that they hope you have a really nice day!!

[Sgt.Rock]

From Here?
http://www.riddlewrites.co.uk/article1.html

[Quizmonster]

There is a claim in Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Catch Phrases that the Tottenham/Cyril Knowles connection was preceded by a Wonderloaf TV advertisement in which bakers used the words 'Nice one!' to congratulate each other on their loaves. Football fans then - the story goes - took it up and applied it to their hero.
I'm not sure why you think it stupid, but take your pick as to the origin.

[brionon]

If someone tells me a joke and I say 'Nice one' I'm not saying 'Thank-you' ;I'm saying 'Nice one.'

[wasp]

The question stems from the use of fashionable jargon
rather than proper manners , which is how the question is headed. For example if you hold a door open for someone to pass through are you happy with NICE ONE or do you prefer THANK YOU ? Is it me that's out of step here ?

[Marijn]

I think I would prefer "Thank you" to "Nice one", in that example.

[Maggoty]

I reckon it became popular after that famous football chant "Nice one Cyril, Nice on son, Nice one Cyril, lets have another one"

that shows my age!!

[smorodina]

You can probably blame the travel writer Peter Mayle for this, as it was he who coined the phrase 'Nice One, Cyril' for the Wonderloaf advert in 1972 (the last baker to be congratulated was called Cyril and the advert ended with the above phrase). The slogan caught on in a small way following the advert but, as Quizmonster has pointed out, took off when football fans applied it to Cyril Knowles sometime later. A chart song followed (Cockerel Chorus) and 'nice one' has been a popular expression of approval ever since.

[steven15]

There have been times when I have seen people confuse the two - Nice one and Thank you. Some people really just wont be polite enough to thank anybody.
When people get a gift they'd rather say "Ah nice one" instead of so kind of you or a thnkas.That may be because they've not quite liked the gift.Thanks always sounds more polite.