Why does ‘few’ sometimes mean a lot “There’s quite a few ducks in the pond.” and sometimes a little “There’s only a few ducks in the pond.”?

Question

Why does ‘few’ sometimes mean a lot “There’s quite a few ducks in the pond.” and sometimes a little “There’s only a few ducks in the pond.”?

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Answer 1

“Quite” in a phrase to me is usually used as a sort of understatement, a bit of sarcasm; saying “There’s quite a few ducks in the pond” would really mean, “Um, there’s a lot more ducks than you would call ‘a few’ in the pond.”