Inquiring minds want to know

[penmage]

Okay, because it has been bugging me lately, a poll or two:

[Poll #1221134]

[Poll #1221135]

Comments

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

Quick bit regarding "a couple" -- it can be strictly 2 to me also, depending on what's being counted. In most cases, though, I'll say it carelessly and be thinking, "2-3."

[esc-key.livejournal.com]

It makes me really mad when people use "a couple" to mean "a few" since, to me, couple is two.

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

Depends on if you're talking about a dating partnership or potato chips.

If I asked for a couple of potato chips and only got two, I'd be annoyed.

If someone I'd been casually seeing said we were a couple but neglected to mention that he was including his three other significant others, I'd be really annoyed.

Depends on context.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. That's the proper way of saying stuff. But for some reason, in my head, "a couple" is "a few." I know it's wrong. But it's still stuck in my head.

[lnbw.livejournal.com]

To me, a couple means two, but vaguely. I'm not sure how this works in the real world. I guess it means something like, "two, but anywhere from one to four would probably be acceptable, too."

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

A couple of most things is a few. A couple minutes, a couple potato chips.

But with people? A couple is two. :)

[klimtomaniac.livejournal.com]

This is an on-going argument/joke between Doug and I.

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

Probably that's how it was used by the folks who taught you English. Not your fault. :) (Not my fault, either! A couple is "probably two, could be three." But we say "a couple" because if we meant exactly TWO, we'd say TWO.)

[fshk.livejournal.com]

Same for me. I know that "a couple" technically means 2, but I use it to mean 2-4.