Using pejorative adjectives as a compliment

Question

Is it correct or usual to use pejorative adjectives when you want to say good things about something, like in the phrase:

He can do some really nasty tricks with a coin and a scarf

Of course I'm trying to say the tricks he can do are great, everybody enjoys them.

'Nasty' is the only pejorative adjective that comes to my mind and there may be better ones to be used instead - I mean, if that kind of use is really possible.

Also see *[“The bass drop is so sick!…” - What does it mean?](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/700)* and *[The meaning of “a sick set of wheels!”](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/182461)* and at EL&U: *[Origin of current slang usage of the word 'sick' to mean 'great'?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/75017)*, *[Why the opposite meanings of the word “bollocks”?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/5684)*, *[How and why have some words changed to a complete opposite?](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/22293)* — choster, Jun 17 '19 at 21:05
Does this never happen in your own native language? In English there are many, many slang terms which rebelliously evolved so that older people would not understand what the younger people are saying, because the slang is the exact opposite of the "dictionary" meaning. For example, back in my day, we would have said *"He can do some really [**bitchin'**](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bitchin) tricks ..."* — Andrew, Jun 17 '19 at 21:29
@choster or, from the Boston, [*"My boy's **wicked** smaat"*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdsjNGCGz4) — Andrew, Jun 17 '19 at 21:33

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 17 '19 at 20:38

Some dictionaries have definitions for nasty like the following from Green’s:

(orig. US) first-class, exciting, particularly enjoyable or admirable.

However, this is not a very common definition in my experience and it is not in any of the “major” dictionaries that I checked. In fact “nasty trick” is one of the examples in MW under “lacking in courtesy or sportsmanship”.

There are several primarily negative words that can mean “awesome” (and are pretty common in this sense, being found in most major dictionaries) such as “wicked”, “sick”, and “killer”.

Using pejorative adjectives as a compliment

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