Exceptional

So about a year ago I became familiar with surveys and ratings that gave me the option of giving "exceptional" as the highest rating.
Exceptional? Isn't that WORSE than "fair" or "poor?" Like: "hey, this looks awesome EXCEPT you really messed up the whole story"
That makes sense. It was great--excepting an attribute--which made it exceptional.
I have always thought this term was NOT a compliment.
Then today I looked long and hard at the word, decided to read a definition, then firmly told myself: "okay, this word does not mean that." And so I had to change because I was wrong.

Wise

Today my teacher was like "Elizabeth Smart comes here! (to BYU) Has anyone seen her? Is she in any of your classes? Well she's not in any of mine. I haven't seen her around"
This made me think of Camille Cleverly, and I wondered if Elizabeth Smart helped search for Camille.
Then I thought of their last names: Smart and Cleverly.
All I am saying is that if your last name is Wise, you better watch out. You are next.