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It's not just deprecation, it's systemic understatement. It drives non-British people insane because everyone is talking in code. And some of the meaning is hi

It's not just deprecation, it's systemic understatement. It drives non-British people insane because everyone is talking in code. And some of the meaning is hidden in intonation. If someone says "Interesting..." that can mean "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard" or "Might be worth a look, but not a priority right now." Or maybe "That's very suspicious." "That's quite good" usually means "Very good, I like it!"

arethuza 9mo ago
Also starting anything with "With the greatest respect..."
1718627440 9mo ago
> If someone says "Interesting..." that can mean ... Same in German.
jacquesm 9mo ago
'Interesting' => 'you're stark raving mad but you're in the room with me so I'm going to be polite to you until I'm out of striking range'.
mnw21cam 9mo ago
I certainly use the word "exciting" in ways that that might be non-standard, like for instance describing when everything has gone catastrophically wrong.
- jimnotgym 9mo ago
  It is almost as good as when Sir Humphrey told the minister his idea was 'courageous', meaning an enormous risk.
jimnotgym 9mo ago
There is the famous case in the Korean War at the Battle of Imjin River where the British commander of the Gloucestershire regiment reported to an American General, 'Things are a bit sticky, sir'. The American General thought that meant a good thing, like they were holding the line, when in fact they were fighting a heroic last stand outnumbered 25:1! https://www.warhistoryonline.com/korean-war/battle-of-imjin-river.html https://www.warhistoryonline.com/korean-war/battle-of-imjin-...
GJim 9mo ago
> "That's quite good" Ummmm...... I'll say it is "not bad". For me to say something is "quite good" it would have to make me cream myself.
deleted 9mo ago
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hexbin010 9mo ago
Conversely what does an American mean when they say "wow that's absolutely amazing" for everything ...
PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
> "That's quite good" usually means "Very good, I like it!" This is backwards from the conventional British use of "quite". In American English "quite" is a positive modifier, so that "quite good" is better than "good". In British English, historically, it's a negative modifier so that "quite good" means "not as good as good".
- blenderob 9mo ago
  Don't know who downvoted this comment but this is correct. Like all matters of speaking, it depends on the tone. Sometimes "quite good" can mean better than good. But the parent is correct that conventionally, unless the tone suggests the opposite, "quite good" means "not as good as good" when an English person says it.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
    It occured to me yesterday that at least in a now slightly historic version of British English (though one that isn't actually extinct yet), "rather" plays a similar role to the one "quite" does in American English. So "rather good" is better than good, "rather nice" is better than nice" etc.

arethuza 9mo ago

Also starting anything with "With the greatest respect..."

1718627440 9mo ago

> If someone says "Interesting..." that can mean ... Same in German.

jacquesm 9mo ago

'Interesting' => 'you're stark raving mad but you're in the room with me so I'm going to be polite to you until I'm out of striking range'.

mnw21cam 9mo ago

I certainly use the word "exciting" in ways that that might be non-standard, like for instance describing when everything has gone catastrophically wrong.

jimnotgym 9mo ago
It is almost as good as when Sir Humphrey told the minister his idea was 'courageous', meaning an enormous risk.

jimnotgym 9mo ago

There is the famous case in the Korean War at the Battle of Imjin River where the British commander of the Gloucestershire regiment reported to an American General, 'Things are a bit sticky, sir'. The American General thought that meant a good thing, like they were holding the line, when in fact they were fighting a heroic last stand outnumbered 25:1! https://www.warhistoryonline.com/korean-war/battle-of-imjin-river.html https://www.warhistoryonline.com/korean-war/battle-of-imjin-...

GJim 9mo ago

> "That's quite good" Ummmm...... I'll say it is "not bad". For me to say something is "quite good" it would have to make me cream myself.

deleted 9mo ago

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hexbin010 9mo ago

Conversely what does an American mean when they say "wow that's absolutely amazing" for everything ...

PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago

> "That's quite good" usually means "Very good, I like it!" This is backwards from the conventional British use of "quite". In American English "quite" is a positive modifier, so that "quite good" is better than "good". In British English, historically, it's a negative modifier so that "quite good" means "not as good as good".

blenderob 9mo ago
Don't know who downvoted this comment but this is correct. Like all matters of speaking, it depends on the tone. Sometimes "quite good" can mean better than good. But the parent is correct that conventionally, unless the tone suggests the opposite, "quite good" means "not as good as good" when an English person says it.
- PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
  It occured to me yesterday that at least in a now slightly historic version of British English (though one that isn't actually extinct yet), "rather" plays a similar role to the one "quite" does in American English. So "rather good" is better than good, "rather nice" is better than nice" etc.