Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
Be above a bit of the atmosphere
English answer:
"quite a bit" = a fair amount (but an exaggeration HERE)
English term
Be above a bit of the atmosphere
I find this sentence quite confusing, how can one be ”above of the atmosphere” at only 15,000 feet? Am I missing something? Grateful for any hints!
Jan 26, 2021 14:57: AllegroTrans changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Jan 27, 2021 15:24: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
PRO (1): Yvonne Gallagher
Non-PRO (3): Rachel Fell, Tony M, AllegroTrans
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Responses
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
"quite a bit" an exaggeration
https://climate.ncsu.edu/edu/Structure
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Note added at 1 day 4 hrs (2021-01-27 15:17:22 GMT) Post-grading
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glad to have helped. This was a serious question and Pro in my opinion.
Just to reiterate what I said below, while 15,000 feet is high (as can be seen in the link) it is only around halfway to the Tropopause.
Yes, there's far more clarity than at sea-level but they probably should have said STARTING TO GET (above quite a bit of the atmosphere) and gives rise to the following remark with an implied BUT ”You really need to be above the atmosphere to see through to the emptiness of space.”
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writeaway
: can't help it but reminds me of this: Let's go fly a kite And send it soaring Up through the atmosphere Up where the air is clear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA-g8YYPKVo
2 hrs
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Thanks:-) Yes, the air gets clearer the higher you go for sure. Nothing ironic about that.
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Petrus Maritz
2 hrs
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Many thanks:-) Petrus, re your Dbox entry. 15,000 feet (less than 5 Km) is really not a large part of the atmosphere, especially when this concerns looking into space: a satellite orbit is at an altitude of approx. 35,786 km
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AllegroTrans
: An exagerration for sure - about one seventeenth of the atmospheric layer at most, albeit in human terms (effects on breathing and bodily functions) very substantial
3 hrs
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Thank you!//Yes, but it's not about human breathing but looking into space without all the "noise" from what I gather. And can't really do that so well at 15,000 feet/less than 5 Km. Certainly not much or enough. And why Asker is confused.
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United Kingdom
www.lingocraft.co.uk
Native in: English (Variants: British, Scottish, Irish, Singaporean, UK, South African)
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, Romanian to English, and 2 more.
Quite a lot= (Ironic usage)
When we say "Quite a bit" is not the same thing as saying "a bit", which means "a small piece of" or a "small part of". In fact, simply adding "quite" before "a bit" turns this into an ironic idiom, meaning "quite a lot".
This might help explain this:https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/88933/confusion-abou...
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Note added at 1 hr (2021-01-26 12:29:37 GMT)
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"Quite a bit
a significant amount"
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/quite a bit
"a considerable amount"
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Lincoln Hui
: I don't know if it's ironic, but "quite a bit = quite a lot" is a common expression.
1 min
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Thank you. I would say its the irony (or perhaps sarcasm) that turns the expression around.
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AllegroTrans
: Yes, but not ironic, just badly expressed given the atmosphere extends to 50 kilometres above the earth; nevertheless in terms of effect on a human, very substantial
2 hrs
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Thank you.
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Thayenga
: Without "ironic"
1 day 2 hrs
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United Kingdom
experienced and well qualified linguist
Native in: English (Variant: UK)
Works in: Spanish to English, English, Spanish, and 3 more.
over a considerable change in atmospheric pressure
'An atmosphere can be a unit of pressure equal to the pressure of the air at sea level, equal to the pressure exerted by a column of mercury. The Earth's atmosphere is held by the force of gravity, which forms various layers at different heights.'
Discussion
Either way, now that you've provided the context, it clearly means 15,000 feet is fairly high, but not nearly enough to see space.
So no, it is not about breathing. The character who is saying this is an American astrophysicist.
I don't think it's an exaggeration, and I agree with Petrus.
Might this help?