Phrase "That's something"

[Nessie]

Hi, please have a look at this conversation:

A: I’m granted a full scholarship for this semester.
B: Congratulations. That’s something.

=> I understand that B is expressing some compliment to A, but what exactly is B's attitude? Does B mean "It's very good of you!" or "It's not bad"? Uhm... I ask so because with my non-native sense, I somehow feel that "that's something" has the meaning "that's just something". Anyway, I'm not sure...
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... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know..

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[Barb_D]

It means "That's quite an achievement." (It's possible to have other meanings based on what was discussed prior to that and tone of voice of hte speaker, but in general, I would assume it was an expression of admiration.)

(Note: "I've been granted" would be more expected than "I'm granted" in American English.)

[Nessie]

[Alan]

Hi,

It's not really an AmE/BrE thing at all. 'I'm granted (I am granted)' suggests a regular occurrence - as in I'm granted so much for board and lodging every month. But 'I've been granted (have been granted)' refers to a grant that has just/recently been made.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Read the Signs...

[Barb_D]

Nessie, I'm trying to be careful. More than once, I've said "It should be this way, not that way" only to have a bunch of BrE speakers say "Actually, that way is how we say it all the time." So I don't imply that something IS said in BrE when I say it is NOT said that way in AmE... only that it's how we say it in AmE.

Thanks for the elaboration, Alan. For all I knew, it was another one of those differences.