many/quite a few

[milan2003_07]

Hello,

Many books will be offered at the fair
Quite a few books will be offered at the fair

Many vegetables are useful for one's health
Quite a few vegetables are useful for one's health

Are "many" and "quite a few" the same or there is some difference in meaning?

[milan2003_07]

Please help me with my sentences.

[birdeen's call]

I think "quite a few" can be used in two ways. When it's used literally, it clearly gives us an upper bound to the number of objects it describes. It's definitely not "very many" then. It's "fairly many".

It can also be used ironically:

- Mom, I will be a millionaire when I grow up!
- Suzie, quite a few people people said it before...

Here, mom obviously means "very many" but she uses "quite a few" for effect.

"Many" doesn't seem to have these shades of meaning. It's just the very basic concept of numerousness.

It's just my opinion; I'm not completely convinced it's right.