Ho Tony, interesting question! Kirsty had a similar question about to the one you raise with your ‘actually’ example. She wondered if ‘really quite good’ might indicate an element of surprise sometimes. It sounds plausible to me. What do you think?
I think ‘She’s quite a cook’ indicates she’s a very good cook indeed and the really just intensifies it.

Oh what an interesting question Kirsty! The intensifier ‘really’ seems to make it a little more than just fairly/quite good. And yes, there could be an element of surprise there. I wonder if others have any more ideas on this.

Just wondering how to explain “It’s really quite good” to someone… is this just a British-ism? An expression of surprise? Like, “the weather is really quite nice today”, meaning I didn’t expect it to be so?

I’d appreciate your help on this. Thanks!

How about where ‘quite’ is pre-qualified, e.g. in if someone says, “oh, this pinot is actually quite good” or “she’s really quite a cook”?

So glad this resonated with you Leslyn. It took me a while to figure out what was happening in when I first moved to the US, and I still have to do a double think now. Do hope t helps and thanks for writing.

I heard the term Quite being used as an answer/response several times in the movie Belle and then again in another recent Netflix movie and though I concluded what it meant, I wasn’t quite sure. My search online for an answer was in vain until I stumbled across your article.

Thanks again for publishing this

What an interesting question Ayman! Your grammar book is correct. We might say that something is ‘not very good’ or that it’s ‘not quite good enough’ and even ‘not that good’, so why not ‘not quite good’? I’ve no idea and wonder if anyone else knows.

Hi Feng! We’re so sorry you can’t see our videos. I’m afraid we have no suggestions to help you. I wish we did.