Name: Words that Mean the Opposite in America
Uploaded: 2026-03-23T17:18:58.000Z
Duration: 16 min 38 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

This is a comment I received on my first video speaking German.

Adverbs of degree

If you think it's a straightforward answer, it's not.

You see, English is full of words that quietly flip meaning when you cross the Atlantic.

Words that you think sound polite or a compliment, like this one, can really land you in hot water if you use them across the pond.

Including one word that American pilots use all the time that can make British passengers feel like something has gone horribly wrong with their flight.

these are the English words that mean the complete opposite in the U.S.

It shows how British people rate common phrases on a scale of 1 to 10.

At the bottom, you've got abysmal and appalling.

Well, for some reason, that's at the top of this list.

But regardless, at the top, perfect and outstanding.

The really interesting parts lie in the middle.

The average British person rates the word good at a 6.92 out of 10.

But when it comes to quite good, that's lower, at a 6.48.

So if a Brit says something as quite good, that means it's literally worse than good.

This is quite the opposite of how Americans would use the word quite.

When asked to rank the same words, Americans nearly always rate things higher than Brits, except when it comes to the highest rankings.

When Brits say something is excellent, that really is high praise.

They pretty much don't use their most positive words unless they really mean it.

Americans are more, well, glass-half-full type of people, I suppose.

When it comes to the expression quite good, for Americans, it is in fact higher than good.

So American quite and British quite are quite the opposite.

Quite in the U.S. is used as an intensifier.

It takes the original word and steps it up a notch.

Quite can be more or less replaced in the U.K. with the word fairly.

Saying it's quite good is like saying it's fairly good.

But as you probably guessed, if you've watched a few videos about words on this YouTube channel, it wasn't always like this.

You see, the adverb quite entered the English language from Anglo-Norman around the 1300s, meaning entirely.

Over time, it evolved to mean truly or definitely.

And by the 18th century, both American speakers of English and British used the word in the same way.

But through the course of the 19th and the 20th centuries, quite took quite a turn in Britain, changing from the emphatic intensifier, meaning completely and truly, to the more understated qualifier we know of today.

Like most things about the English, they do love being understated when expressing themselves, as the data from this graph does show.

Why say something is really good when you can just dampen it a little bit?

And to be fair, in both countries, the tone of the sentence plays a huge role here.

The more your inflection goes up, the more intense that quite is perceived.

In terms of the original comment, the wow at the start might point us towards quite being used as an intensifier, more the American way.

But with these two comments, quite lowers your expectations a bit, most likely because, well, they're British.

To be fair, Sheffield Public Transport is quite good.

See, it sounds more like they're saying, ah, Sheffield's public transit is fairly good.

And ah, it's fairly good for an American.

You could just tell from picking up the rest of the sentence.

You might think that this is just a minor difference.

But with all due respect, these next words are where the differences stop being subtle and start getting risky.

So I was watching the new season of Stranger Things and came across this interesting segment.

Pay attention to the tone in the following clip.

Major General, with all due respect, these kids are in danger.

Americans watching are probably confused why this is even a question, and

Brits are, well, laughing and shaking their heads.

I've lived in this country for over 13 years, and

I've only found out this year Brits do not mean this when they say it.

When an American says, with all due respect, it's usually just a polite way to pat out some criticism.

With all due respect, I think we should do it this way instead.

But I do disagree with you in this instance.

In Britain, they say the same words, with all due respect, but

the implication is that they actually don't respect you or your opinion at all.

The amount of respect that you're due, that's in question.

With the respect you're due, which, of course, is nothing, I think your idea is a bit shit.

It's the most polite way a Brit has to say they think you're a complete idiot, akin to signing an email with, kindest regards.

My friends, the regards were not kind at all.

Have you ever gotten an email from a Brit with both, with all due respect, or maybe as per my last email, and/or kindest regards, mate, assume that they've complained about you to the entire office.

In fact, this is also quite similar to another expression Brits and Americans interpret very differently.

If we're having a conversation and you say something to me like, Evan, you should remind people to thumbs up your video more often, and

I reply with, thanks, I'll bear that in mind.

Am I saying, I will consider that, and I might do it?

Or am I politely dismissing your comment that I have no plan on acting on?

It turns out which side of the Atlantic you're on strongly plays a role here.

In another YouGov poll of around 2,000 British and 2,000 American adults, 55% of Brits interpreted, I'll bear that in mind, with, I've forgotten it already, compared to only 38% of Americans.

Though diving deeper into the data, it would appear that Americans in the Northeast are significantly more likely to share the British stance.

But overall, American culture prioritizes direct communication.

If they like your idea, an American will probably tell you.

As a lot of British culture emphasizes indirectness and not causing offense, expressions like, I'll bear that in mind, act as a polite way of refusing an idea without outright saying it to soften the blow.

It's basically like a British person saying they'd like to table that discussion.

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Words that Mean the Opposite in America

literally

debate

expression

compliment