Are people being helpful or rude when...?

Rude. You're not one of his children and he can't tell you what to say.  I would use it more in fact, and make up words to go with it.

as example:

"Can you have those papers on my desk by this evening? Awesomesauce."

"You did? That's abso-awesome-lutely freakin' rad , DOOD!"

DH picked up some americanisms off of me, was told by his boss that he disapproved of the words in a professional environment, and now he uses em more.

LMAO - tea just came through my nose!  I love it!  Where did you get the awesome sauce, or did you just create it?  That is so awesome!  ha ha ha!

Navie, I too love your awesome sauce!

I say it, too--more often than I'd like, it's just habit, but one say "brilliant" will come naturally.  Until then, though, like geeta said, it's just part of who I am.

I hate 'awesome'... it makes me cringe when I hear it.
*BUT*... I would not try to make a colleague or friend feel bad for saying it, or 'helpfully' suggest they substitute it with another word.  That's just plain rude.  

That's pretty much exactly how I feel about it. And I do understand that "awesome" is probably overused by Americans ... but then isn't "brilliant" just as overused by Brits??

argh, i have a coworker who keeps doing things like this all the time.  oddly enough, he is an american who has lived here for 20+ years (with the british accent to prove it).  the other day, we were meeting and i was in the middle of talking about a project, and all of a sudden he said "that reminds me...a few weeks ago, you sent an email that said something would be 'quite helpful'...i just wanted to let you know that the british use the word 'quite' here differently than americans. when you said something would be 'quite helpful', that was actually insulting.  you should say 'extremely helpful' instead".  um, REALLY?!?!

argh, i have a coworker who keeps doing things like this all the time.  oddly enough, he is an american who has lived here for 20+ years (with the british accent to prove it).  the other day, we were meeting and i was in the middle of talking about a project, and all of a sudden he said "that reminds me...a few weeks ago, you sent an email that said something would be 'quite helpful'...i just wanted to let you know that the british use the word 'quite' here differently than americans. when you said something would be 'quite helpful', that was actually insulting.  you should say 'extremely helpful' instead".  um, REALLY?!?!

What on earth??  That makes absolutely no sense!  Plus I think it's totally wrong!

What on earth??  That makes absolutely no sense!  Plus I think it's totally wrong!

i know, right?!  plus, the ironic thing was, i used 'quite' because i thought if i said 'very helpful' he would complain about me being too emphatic and sounding too american!

edited to add that he went on to explain that 'quite helpful' in the uk meant something was only 'sort of' helpful and that people would interpret it as if you were saying their help wasn't really as helpful as it could have been. 

i know, right?!  plus, the ironic thing was, i used 'quite' because i thought if i said 'very helpful' he would complain about me being too emphatic and sounding too american!

I think people read into emails too much.  I could see if you were using the quite in a sarcastic tone, but some people project.   

i know, right?!  plus, the ironic thing was, i used 'quite' because i thought if i said 'very helpful' he would complain about me being too emphatic and sounding too american!

edited to add that he went on to explain that 'quite helpful' in the uk meant something was only 'sort of' helpful and that people would interpret it as if you were saying their help wasn't really as helpful as it could have been. 

   It sounds like he should just keep his 'helpful' comments to himself.

edited to add that he went on to explain that 'quite helpful' in the uk meant something was only 'sort of' helpful and that people would interpret it as if you were saying their help wasn't really as helpful as it could have been.  

I've heard this before!  Only once.  And from a surly sort of guy, so I was never sure if it was true or not.  I wonder if it's a regional thing.  I have never heard this again, though, that "quite" is used to mean "not really" and is a negative.  So, "it's quite rainy" would be "it's not really raining."  

The rest of the Brits that I've polled over the years (admittedly, less than 10) thought I was joking when I asked.

I vote rude, however, I'm sure it was unintentional.

The first time I said awesome around my husband, he totally got a kick out of it.  Exactly what everyone else said, you would expect a Brit in the US to stop using "brilliant", so why should you have to stop saying awesome.  It's part of our vocabulary.


And I heart awesome sauce.  That's, well...... AWESOME!!!!!!

I picked up awesomesauce from people I play online games (like World of Warcraft) with.  Not sure where it comes from lol.

I have never heard this again, though, that "quite" is used to mean "not really" and is a negative.  So, "it's quite rainy" would be "it's not really raining."  

"quite" can mean either "very much" or "only a bit" and which of these meanings is intended is conveyed by tone of voice, context, etc.

"quite" can mean either "very much" or "only a bit" and which of these meanings is intended is conveyed by tone of voice, context, etc.

In my area, it seems to always mean very much, rather than only a little. People get sarcastic in different ways up here. 

You have to be careful; I think there are certain usages which are old fashioned and/or mainly upper class, e.g.:

emphasising an absolute quality e.g. deadness, nakedness:

The mouse in the trap was quite dead: it was undoubtedly, obviously, clearly, definitely, gruesomely dead.

When Joe emerged from the shower he was quite naked. He was shockingly or erotically naked.

We can extend it a bit - emphasing a subjective quality by pretending it is objective:

Melissa is quite beautiful - she is absolutely, utterly, indisputably beautiful.

The meal was quite delicious - it was absolutely amazingly delicious.

However -

The meal was quite nice - it was kind of all right I suppose.

There are some which are ambiguous:

the bucket was quite full - either: the bucket was absolutely full to the brim - or - the bucket contained a considerable amount.

Update:

I used awesome sauce all weekend, and my hubby is saying it too.