tiergan-vashir:

mazikeenmorningstar:

sunlitroom:

heavyheadedgal:

loveliesdown:

shiphassailed:

tigerpellets:

I NEVER KNEW THIS

I NEVER KNEW THAT WAS WHAT AMERICANS MEANT WHEN THEY SAID “QUITE” 

WHY DIDN’T ANYBODY TELL ME

SUDDENLY THAT ONE SONG THAT GOES “HELLO I MISS YOU QUITE TERRIBLY” MAKES LIKE A MILLION TIMES MORE SENSE

are you serious british people

i feel like this means i’ve been overestimating your enthusiasm about things for my entire life

And thus we have defined British/American relations for the last 3 decades

My British partner had an American supervisor for her PhD. Poor thing was crushed every time she was told her work was “quite good.”

Now I’m confused.  I’m British.  If I say, ‘that’s quite good’ – then it usually means I think it’s good, but a habitual horror of overstatement has made me stick ‘quite’ in there.

Quite good – That’s good (with the implication that I’m pleasantly surprised)

Not bad – That’s very good

Not bad at all – Very good – and I’m pleasantly surprised

Brits: politely mitigating their own enthusiasm or politely mitigating their praise

Americans: politely saying “hell yeah”

I… I never knew that the English language could get so confusing on itself just between two different nations that are sort of related to each other.

As a Brit, I can definitely say that this is true.