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Compare these sentences

He had not a few kind thoughts about his former employer.

He had quite a few kind thoughts about his former employer.

He had quite a lot of kind thoughts about his former employer.

I know these sentences mean the same thing, but do they emphasize to the same degree, i.e can I use them interchangeablly?

YiLuo
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1 Answers1

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I don't think "not a few" is being used idiomatically in your example. not a few is unlike quite a few in that the latter just means "a large number" whereas not a few means "a large subset of those things we've been speaking about".

Quite a few people prefer coffee to tea. idiomatic

Not a few people prefer coffee to tea. unidiomatic

You could be describing a neighborhood's 19th c. houses and add this remark

Not a few are badly in need of repair.

That is, "not a few" means "many (of them)" not simply "many".

TimR
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