*rather, quite, pretty, fairly

'Pretty' is rather less formal than the others; other than that, I use them fairly interchangeably. I believe that Nona told us once that 'quite' in BrE use quite often is euphemistic.

Oh yes there is a long thread about it somewhere if you search S.

Quite is often a case of 'damning by faint praise'.

I believe that Nona told us once that 'quite' in BrE use quite often is euphemistic.

Isn't there this same meaning for 'quite' through all of the dialects of English?

So are you saying that the sentence "This cake is quite good" would mean "This cake is not very good (perhaps even terrible)" to speakers of BrE? Or, when you describe it as a "euphemism" do you mean it stands for something even more profane? I have never heard of this. Maybe I am misunderstanding something. If anyone could explain a little more it would be helpful. : )

I learned Am

The four could certainly not be used interchangeably in the negative, however.

I see "quite" as quite different from the others. "quite" means "completely".

I'm not quite finished.
*I'm not rather finished.
*I'm not pretty finished.
*I'm not fairly finished.

Among the others, I'd rate them in terms of social register:

1-2 pretty
2 fairl