Quite a good lesson to learn

[girlyswot]

Among the many linguistic differences between the US and the UK, the use of the word 'quite' is one of the most subtle and least known, I think.

In the US, 'quite' means 'very, completely'. Merriam-Webster has, 'wholly, completely, positively.'

In the UK, 'quite' can have this sense, though often in the negative. 'I'm not quite done yet' = 'I'm not completely done yet.'

However, in the UK 'quite' is much more often used to indicate something completely different. The online Cambridge dictionary gives as the first definition of 'quite', 'Not very.' I'm not sure that's exactly right. I'd say that 'quite' means 'fairly', 'nearly', or 'moderately'. But it is very often used with a negative, deprecating overtone, which means that it does end up meaning something more like 'Not very'.

So a school report in the UK that said a child was 'quite good' at something, should not be taken as glowing praise but as a slightly pointed put down. Similarly if we say that something is 'quite interesting' we're really saying 'Shut up and get to the point.'

Obviously, this information is quite interesting in its own right, but I really mention it here because I've had a number of reviews and comments which I've had to do a double take on. When someone I knew, who had previously told me how much they enjoyed my work, first left a comment on a story of mine to say that it was 'quite good' or 'quite clever', I was slightly taken aback. It wasn't until months later that I realised she meant it quite differently(!) from the way I had understood it. And I'm guessing that there will be others who have had similar experiences and may have been unintentionally discouraged.



Separated by a common language? Quite.

Comments

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

That was fascinating, I had no idea that there were such different meanings. I have used 'quite' in a 'completely/exactly' sense on occasion but have never really thought about the linguistic connotations before.
("She spends £60 on a skirt and has the nerve to moan that she is really hard up?"
"Quite.")

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I disagree: in the UK examples (the school report, for example), in the absence of context suggesting otherwise, I read 'quite' as meaning 'moderately'. The school report is positive, although not greatly so, and the interesting thing, while probably not pulling people away from their favourite pastime, is probably something they'd note for future reference (see QI the programme, for example).

A review saying that something is 'quite good' may be damning with faint praise, but that's not the same thing.

[zia-montrose.livejournal.com]

So I shouldn't tell you that I find this post 'quite interesting'? ; )

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

My grandmother used to say that things were "quite nice". THough it wasn't damning with faint praise, it did have a slightly "meh" feeling about it!

On the other hand, I have called something "quite interesting" in a positive way - to mean that something is not riveting, but more interesting than I had expected. Perhaps a bit like the "quite good, actually" film comment above, but without the preceding hostile negative.

[moonette1.livejournal.com]

I'm American, and you've totally lost me. (Therefore, I suppose I should NOT say I'm quite lost.)

This is sort of like Opposite Day.

[dogstar101.livejournal.com]

I'm unconvinced by Merriam-Webster. I think I need an American to explain it to me. ;)

Next time I get a 'quite' review I shall demand an explanation and ask them why they didn't use 'very' if that's what they meant!

[tdu000.livejournal.com]

This is obviously quite a problem, when taking into acount the quite large number of trans-Atlantic correspondnces that the quite excessive use of the internet by quite a surprisingly large number of individuals. If only we were quite happy only to comunicate with individuals of our own nationality these quite ridiculous misunderstandings wouldn't occur, or at least not with quite this level of frequency.

Of course your writing is quite, quite good!

[alkari.livejournal.com]

Quite so, tdu000!

This is quite obviously one word where context and intonation have a marked effect on the meaning.

[ladywhizbee.livejournal.com]

I had no idea! Yikes. Just how many insults have I hurled unintentionally?

I'm baffled by how differently the word can be interpreted. Obviously, the sarcastic 'quite' is very understood--but the slight put-down of 'Tommy is quite good at algebra, but...'

I would never have interpreted that one correctly.

This is quite (as in 'very') interesting. I'm sure that I've left you a 'quite good' type of review before(!)--and in my case, I've always meant, 'very good'. This may put me off of using 'quite' altogether--particularly in posts where the tone of it may be taken completely out of context.

Very enlightening...

[gabrielladusult.livejournal.com]

This is as good a reason as any to dispense with enhancing adverbs like extremely, very, and quite. They are for the lazy (at least, my Vocabulary Building teacher in High School used to say so).

Which reminds me of this teaser for The West Wing episode, "Galileo." If you don't want to watch the whole four minutes, just skip to the last one where the President tells the poor PR guy from NASA that something can't be "very unique" (since unique already means one of a kind) or "extremely historic". It is one of my favorites from the show:



BTW. When you said the informations was "quite interesting in its own right" and "quite differently" -- which meanings were you intending us to take from that?

[owl]

I would consider quite=completely to be archaic, which would fit in with American (and to a lesser extent, Hiberno-) English using it that way.

Actually, I use it more as an intensifier when I'm agreeing with something ("Oh, quite." or "Quite correct.") than when I'm making a statement of my own.

Ah, the pitfalls of an unwary right-pondian attempting to write fanfiction in an American canon! Although I think we have the advantage over the Americans trying to do the opposite.