Another silly British English grammar question

Okay, so if a British person said:

"They have tried to use resources from as many countries as possible. However, this is quite difficult because many developing countries do not have many artefacts online."

Does the 'quite' mean 'a little less than difficult' or 'a little more than difficult'? Does it translate exactly into 'very' (= 'a little more than difficult')?

Thanks!

Oh. Geez. The "quite" thing.

My husband (a professional writist) says it means "a bit." Except when it means "a lot."

I've given up on that one.

Oh. Geez. The "quite" thing.

My husband (a professional writist) says it means "a bit." Except when it means "a lot."

I've given up on that one.

I think the meaning of "quite" has changed in the past 30 years or so.  I used to have to teach it using old materials, and none of the examples sounded right to my ears.  It used to mean "a bit" or "a little" but seems to have become more emphatic.  In this case, I'd say you can infer from the use of "however" that it means "a lot" or "very."  Otherwise, the "however" seems misused, because it introduces a contrast between the two sentences that wouldn't exist if the task were not very difficult.  To express the concept that the task wasn't that difficult, it would be better to say something like "They have tried to use resources from as many countries as possible.  This was a bit/a little/somewhat difficult because many developing countries do not have many artefacts online, but . . . (this is what we did to overcome the problem). 

Sorry if this isn't terribly coherent, I'm a bit tired       

"Quite" is a non-descriptive qualifier, like "fairly" and "somewhat". In speech you would get clues about its intended meaning from tone of voice and stress. Stoatula's husband is exactly right.

   1. Completely; wholly; entirely; perfectly.

          The work is not quite done
          You are quite mistaken.
          The man in the closet was quite dead.

   2. To a great extent or degree; very; very much; considerably.

          The car is quite damaged.
          I find him quite adorable.

   3. To a moderate extent or degree (tone of speech will often indicate this almost conflicting usage)

          Well, I quite like the painting.
          Work was quite OK today.
          Work went quite well today.

Thanks everyone for your input. It's quite complicated, isn't it?!

In speech you would get clues about its intended meaning from tone of voice and stress.

So in writing, it can be a bit more ambiguous? Or, I guess you'd have key words like 'however', etc. to give you clues - like historyenne mentions below.

In this case, I'd say you can infer from the use of "however" that it means "a lot" or "very." 

 

Thanks everyone for your input. It's quite complicated, isn't it?!

So in writing, it can be a bit more ambiguous? Or, I guess you'd have key words like 'however', etc. to give you clues - like historyenne mentions below.

 

Yes, you would have context (e.g. key words) and an overall feel for what what the writer intended (if they were any good that is).

To understand what the ues of "quite" mean in most contexts, my take on it would be that in most cases you could interchange the colloquialisms "pretty," and "kind of". . ."This is pretty difficult" "This is kind of complicated".

Sorry for constant editing -- my brain is no good until at least late afternoon. I'm typo-ing all over the place despite being post-coffee...

I think this is a case of irony being taken literally. I think quite, by definition, means a small amount. But Brits love their irony, so it often gets used to mean a lot. And people, like me, who are trying to work out proper usage contextually interpret it wrong. Plus I think it's generally been adopted to mean both now.

Same with "rather." (She is a rather good singer.)

I could be wrong, but I checked with my Brit resource, and he concurs.

Can you think of any other examples besides quite and rather?

I think this is a case of irony being taken literally. I think quite, by definition, means a small amount. But Brits love their irony, so it often gets used to mean a lot. And people, like me, who are trying to work out proper usage contextually interpret it wrong. Plus I think it's generally been adopted to mean both now.

Same with "rather." (She is a rather good singer.)

I could be wrong, but I checked with my Brit resource, and he concurs.

Can you think of any other examples besides quite and rather?

I was going to say a similar thing about irony and the use of that infamous 'British understatement'.

It's like coming out of an important business meeting and saying to your colleague, 'Well, that went quite well, don't you think?', when you've actually just secured the biggest multi-million-pound deal of your life .

Another example would be 'a bit' (which again is very similar to quite and rather), as in saying, 'I think he might be just a little bit drunk'/'I think he might have had a bit too much to drink', when the person in question is absolutely hammered and passed out on the floor!

Off the subject but I can't think of where it should go.

I was listening to the US TV this morning and the newscaster was pronouncing the word "law". It sounded like "Lar" Why? (It sounds like Mar for your mother)
Do it the British way "Lor" (like floor)

Example. "He received his Law Degree in 2008".

Ok practice that statement and see how you pronounce "LAW"

Off the subject but I can't think of where it should go.

I was listening to the US TV this morning and the newscaster was pronouncing the word "law". It sounded like "Lar" Why? (It sounds like Mar for your mother)
Do it the British way "Lor" (like floor)

Example. "He received his Law Degree in 2008".

Ok practice that statement and see how you pronounce "LAW"

Was this a local news show? What part of the US?

I pronounce law to sound like floor.

An annoying grammar thing is the use of "some" in front of a number.

For example, "some 15 people were injured".

I thought the "some" meant approximately, but my husband said it's just an unnecessary word, and the statement above means the same thing as "15 people were injured".

I pronounce Law like Yaw and Flaw not Floor or Your...with my bland Nor California accent. I'm sure my husband would pronouce law like floor.

I think quite, by definition, means a small amount. But Brits love their irony, so it often gets used to mean a lot. And people, like me, who are trying to work out proper usage contextually interpret it wrong. Plus I think it's generally been adopted to mean both now.

"Quite" has at least 3 meanings, as I already pointed out. "By definition" is meaningless in the context in which you use it.

Was this a local news show? What part of the US?

It was on national news.

Wording that I don't get. Usually when they are interviewing people and the person being interviewed  will say  "At this point in time" Why don't they say "now!" and cut out the extra wording?