Heh - I think you are both right in different contexts... For sure, when used as a noun in isolation (a couple) it refers to two - specifically either a pair of parallel but opposing forces (physics) or a pair of (usually romantically) involved individuals (some might wryly suggest that these two things are much the same ;) ).
I’d say though that when applied to another noun, it generally implies ‘some’ - not two specifically, or even three - but a definitely small number. In fact I think it’s slightly more subtle than that in general usage though... If applied to something which can be counted discretely (eg facts) - ‘a couple of’ implies a likelihood it was almost certainly two, but maybe three (as the exact number wasn’t really important). However, if applied to something which is continuous (and perhaps more importantly something humans are not that great at accurately estimating - eg time) it rarely means two exactly... After all when was the last time you said to someone - ‘I’ll just be a couple of minutes’ and were, indeed, exactly 120 seconds? ;) Sent from my iPhone > On 8 Sep 2021, at 20:55, J. Landman Gay via use-livecode > <use-livecode@lists.runrev.com> wrote: > > My husband said the same when I told him about this thread. "Couple" means > two. I said yes, but colloquially it can mean "two or three or somewhere in > that range." We almost started a longer discussion about it, but I reminded > him of our 30+ years of ongoing talk about a "fact" so we both stopped. > > Addendum: he claims there are "true facts." I say that is redundant, that a > fact is by definition true, and he's implying there are false facts (or as we > say in the US, "alternative facts.") This has been going on for years. It's a > friendly, amusing, kind of false disagreement. Then one day we just looked it > up in the dictionary and...a fact can either be a true bit of information, or > a generic datum. > > And that spoiled all the fun. > > On 9/8/21 6:14 AM, Keith Martin via use-livecode wrote: >>>> On Sep 7, 2021, at 11:04 PM, Martin Koob via use-livecode >>>> <use-livecode@lists.runrev.com> wrote: >>> >>> My wife and I have an ongoing disagreement about the term 'couple of’ in >>> terms of counting. I say it means around 2 or 3ish. She says it means 2. >>> Further she says if you wanted to say 3 or 4 you would say ‘a few’. >> I'm the kind of person that distinguishes between 'like' (exclusive: similar >> to but not) and 'such as' (inclusive: similar to and part of the comparison >> set), so this is coming from a position of pedantry, but that's because I am >> a writer... >> Strictly speaking, 'a couple' means two, no more and no less. In casual use >> (when counting, not when referring to relationship partnerships) it isn't >> unusual for it to be used in place of 'a few' and possibly mean three or >> even four, but it's not technically *correct.* >> I too hope your wife's logic is what holds true! >> :) >> k > > > -- > Jacqueline Landman Gay | jac...@hyperactivesw.com > HyperActive Software | http://www.hyperactivesw.com > > > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription > preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
