By quite eighteen months

Question

Hi A man tells someone that:I can remember my younger sister, who was tall, not being allowed to take the doll’s perambulator out with her on walks, while my older sister, the senior by quite eighteen months, but short, was allowed to. My father said it was manifestly unfair, but my mother was adamant; she said Florence would look so silly.I take it to mean that the shorter sister was 18 months older than the taller one?

Avangi · Accepted Answer

my older sister, the senior by quite eighteen months,

NewguestI take it to mean that the shorter sister was 18 months older than the taller one?

That's correct.

I don't hear the expression used currently in "quite" that way.

We'd say, "She was my senior by not quite eighteen months." (a bit less)

But if we wished to indicate the full term, we'd probably say, "She was my senior by a full eighteen months," or "by a good eighteen months," the "good" version suggesting that it might be a bit more that eighteen months.

In other applications, "quite" is still used to indicate "the complete amount."

I'm quite ready. It's quite full.

It's often used as "very," but some people still use it to mean "completely."

Edit. If we wonder "Why bother to use the 'quite'? Why not just say 'the senior by eighteen months'?", the context suggests that it might be unusual for the shorter girl to be the older, so we stress a full eighteen months older!

Newguest · Answer

Thank you for these explanations!

By quite eighteen months

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