seyfihoca  +  75112 Sat, 19 Feb 05 09:42 PM Hello again. Will someone please explain me the difference in the usages of these words? seyfihoca Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 Turkey/Eskisehir Full Member 109 Dil Sınavlarına Hazırlık Merkezi

	Mister Micawber  +  75182 Sun, 20 Feb 05 04:43 AM 'Pretty' is rather less formal than the others; other than that, I use them fairly interchangeably. I believe that Nona told us once that 'quite' in BrE use quite often is euphemistic. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,833 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	nona the brit  +  75236 Sun, 20 Feb 05 09:42 AM Oh yes there is a long thread about it somewhere if you search S. Quite is often a case of 'damning by faint praise'. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.

	just the truth  +  75248 Sun, 20 Feb 05 10:52 AM I believe that Nona told us once that 'quite' in BrE use quite often is euphemistic. Isn't there this same meaning for 'quite' through all of the dialects of English? just the truth Joined on Mon, Dec 27 2004 Regular Member 849 Dialects

	kumambachi  +  75332 Sun, 20 Feb 05 09:05 PM So are you saying that the sentence "This cake is quite good" would mean "This cake is not very good (perhaps even terrible)" to speakers of BrE? Or, when you describe it as a "euphemism" do you mean it stands for something even more profane? I have never heard of this. Maybe I am misunderstanding something. If anyone could explain a little more it would be helpful. : ) I learned American English and it seems that in AmE you can use these four words interchangeably and "quite" sincerely, as in "this thread is quite interesting." kumambachi Joined on Sat, Jan 15 2005 New Member 21 American English

	CalifJim  +  75335 Sun, 20 Feb 05 09:49 PM The four could certainly not be used interchangeably in the negative, however. I see "quite" as quite different from the others. "quite" means "completely". I'm not quite finished. *I'm not rather finished. *I'm not pretty finished. *I'm not fairly finished. Among the others, I'd rate them in terms of social register: 1-2 pretty 2 fairly 2-3 rather CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,463 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Negatives