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Difference between In good nick and In the nick

in good nick —(sl.) in good condition:

  • It’s not a local ale. Last year it turned up in a couple of pubs, sometimes in good nick other times not so good.

in the nick

1. (also: in the nick of time) at a critical moment when smth. urgently requires to be done:

  • Opening our mail we were relieved to discover the catalog had arrived. Just in the nick.

2. (sl.) at a police station or in prison:

  • Everybody in the nick had already been dubbed up for the night.