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Comment by TheOtherHobbes | Hacker News Reader

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!"

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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-...

> "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".

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

> "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.

> If someone says "Interesting..." that can mean ...

Same in German.

'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'.

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