I got an email the other day. It said: "Thank you for your advice. It was quite helpful."
Only "quite helpful"? Yikes! What did I do wrong?
To the British ear, this is akin to describing a friend's newborn as "somewhat cute", or an aunt's interior decor choices as "a little bit tasteful, I suppose".
But, as I have come to understand, to the American ear, it's more like hailing a tomato soup as "really exceptionally delicious" or Donald Trump as "extremely undiplomatic".
To summarise, here's the scale of helpfulness.
British English:
NOT HELPFUL < QUITE HELPFUL < HELPFUL < VERY HELPFUL.
American English:
NOT HELPFUL < SOMEWHAT HELPFUL < HELPFUL < QUITE HELPFUL.
At first, I put this down to regional differences - you say potato, we're both right in our own way, etc.
But now I realise the unpalatable truth - the British use of "quite" to mean "a bit" is simply wrong!
Don't believe me?
Then if that's what "quite" means, why do the Brits say "that's quite extraordinary"?
Or "you're quite the character, aren't you!"
Or "that's quite in keeping with its surrounding"
Or "I quite agree"?
In all those cases, "quite" means "very much", not "slightly". Which is what it means in the American usage, consistently.
Come to that, for something that's NEARLY correct, why do we say it's "not quite right"? If "quite" meant "more or less", then surely the British should say it IS quite right?
I think we've got to hand it to the Americans on this one. Even if that's quite hard to swallow.
