the quality | Idiomator

Meaning: (UK,idiomatic,archaic)Theupper class, thehigh society, thegentry; the people ofquality.20 July 1713,Joseph Addison,The GuardianI shall appear at the masquerade dressed up in my feathers, thatthe qualitymay see how pretty they will look in their travelling habits.1887,The,Athenaeum,p.445:The rector kept open house on that day, but by degreesthe “quality”gave up going, and the fair, of course, became disreputable, till at last it was put down as a nuisance.1960,P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIX, inJeeves in the Offing, London:Herbert Jenkins,→OCLC:I would have spoken further, but before I could get under way the door opened, revealing Ma Cream, and [my manservant Jeeves] shimmered silently from the room. Unless expressly desired to remain, he always shimmers off when what is calledthe Qualityarrive.1970,James Gordon Farrell,Troubles, 1st edition,page34:[In 1919 Ireland.] ‘Be quiet, Ripon! It's not nonsense at all. Ripon's father calls us “fish-eaters” and “Holy Romans” and so on. So does Ripon. So will you, Major, when you're amongthe “quality”.In fact, you'll become a member ofthe “quality”yourself, high and mighty, too good for the rest of us.’2006, James Alan Downie,"Who Says She's a Bourgeois Writer? Reconsidering the Social and Political Contexts of Jane Austen's Novels", inEighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 40, Nr. 1, Fall 2006:Yet they did not pretend to be members of ‘the quality’, the people of fashion, the cosmopolitan beau monde or the ton, although they were not above harping on their exalted acquaintances among the nobility or the antiquity of their lineage when they saw fit.

Examples:

EN: "This American girl has the quality of a young Melba."
ES: "Esta chica estadounidense tiene la calidad de una joven Melba".
EN: Unfortunately, the quality of the image isn't optimal.
ES: No obstante la calidad del resultado no es optima.
EN: Oh, I'm not good enough to be at home when the quality comes.
ES: Oh, no soy digno estar en mi casa cuando llega la aristocracia.
EN: This is the only place I've known that's had the quality of... home.
ES: Es lo que nunca he conocido, un lugar con la calidad de hogar.
EN: Who still has the quality of caring for things.
ES: Aún se entusiasma por las cosas.
EN: Sir, the quality of the gift does not interest me As much as the spirit in which it is offered.
ES: Señor, la calidad del obsequio no me interesa tanto como el espíritu con el que se ofrece.
EN: It isn't the quality of your laughter I'm complaining about, it's your attitude.
ES: No es de la calidad de tu risa de lo que me quejo, es tu actitud.
EN: I know the quality of tobacco in it because I own the plantation where it was grown and I know therefore that when I light it, it will burn smoothly and pleasantly.
ES: Sé la calidad que tiene el tabaco porque la plantación donde ha crecido es mía... y por eso sé que cuando lo enciendo se quemará delicada y agradablemente.
EN: You've got twice the looks, twice the mind and 10 times the quality.
ES: Eres el doble de guapa, el doble de inteligente y diez veces mejor.
EN: You have a superb imagination, my dear. It's the quality in you that fascinates me most.
ES: Muchos morirán así en esta guerra,
EN: It'd be foolish to belittle the quality of the merchandise... but your terms are impossible.
ES: Sería un tonto si menospreciara la calidad de estas joyas... pero lo que piden es imposible.
EN: It's not the quality of the stories.
ES: No es la calidad de los relatos.
EN: - Afraid? There's no danger that the quality of the preparation will suffer in large scale production.
ES: ¿No se resentirá la calidad del preparado?
EN: Working hours, wage cuts... Synthetic food, the quality of the sawdust in the bread.
ES: Del horario, los sueldos bajos, la comida sintética, la calidad del serrín en el pan.
EN: Their emotions are stirred by some tiny fragment of life possessing the quality of beauty.
ES: Sus emociones se agitan con diminutos fragmentos de vida que poseen belleza.

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