I think I say "a couple things" and write (even in chat contexts) "a couple of things". I might actually say "a couple o' things" (in the schwa sense).
When I ask for "a couple of X," and then get asked "how many?", it makes me want to kill kill KILL KILL KILL. But now I know who to blame. The people who use "couple" to mean "indeterminate amount" have killed the usefulness of the word. That's what "few" is for, folks.
What I often find, in speech, is that I'll say a "couple", because I've got 2 things in mind, then as I say it, I think of a third one.
I agree that it is correct for a couple to mean "two", but then there is also a difference between saying "two things:..." and "a couple of things:...", so....
Ron - You're talking about two separate things here - (1) a [can't remember the word] of speech and (2) a number.
1) "A couple of things" is an introductory phrase, usually a somewhat argumentative one, followed by any number of items or points the speaker wishes to bring up as a counterpoint to what you said, or to debate your points or statement. One may as well say "Hold on there, Sparky" instead of "A couple of things..."
2) "A couple of things" is a response to: "How many things do you want to put in my satchel?" It means: two.
[sorry about the hole in my memory. my brain is shot tonight.]
Well, i should have probably picked a more generic term, or a metasyntactic device. I didn't mean "a couple of things" specifically, but "a couple of [noun]s".
Oh no. 2 seems like a catastrophic number to use for an arbitrary amount. I can just imagine all the inefficient "do you mean two really two?" conversations happening all the time.
Per capita GDP: ITA 27700 FRA 28700 NED 29500
More efficient language makes everyone better off! QED.
is much more vague-sounding than my real answer: It depends strictly on which one I say. "A couple things" is exactly two. "A couple of things" may be exactly two, or may be up to four.
But[t] cracks about my weight are not pertinent here.
I meant to add that this distinction was the general consensus among the language geeks (information developers and otherwise) who used to discuss such matters online at My Big Imployer back before they all got laid off. Probably no more than half confessed to using the noun loosely themselves, but everyone recognized the use as common, and almost all understood the adjective to mean strictly two.
Bryan Garner (Garner's Modern American Usage) has half a page on this issue. In the end, he suggests that either usage works depending on whether "couple" is acting as an adjective that modifies "people" or a noun itself (in which case it would require the preposition "of" to link to another noun).
As for whether it denotes exactly two or possibly more or less depends on the usage. For example, a recipe that called for a "couple sprigs of rosemary" is probably not calling for exactly two sprigs but about that amount. Still, "couple" traditionally denotes a pair, just as the verb form denotes the joining of two things.
Okay, I think I've reached nerdiness quota for the day.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
"that makes me think of a couple of things. first, blah blah blah"
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
I agree that it is correct for a couple to mean "two", but then there is also a difference between saying "two things:..." and "a couple of things:...", so....
no subject
no subject
1) "A couple of things" is an introductory phrase, usually a somewhat argumentative one, followed by any number of items or points the speaker wishes to bring up as a counterpoint to what you said, or to debate your points or statement. One may as well say "Hold on there, Sparky" instead of "A couple of things..."
2) "A couple of things" is a response to: "How many things do you want to put in my satchel?" It means: two.
[sorry about the hole in my memory. my brain is shot tonight.]
no subject
no subject
Well pffffftttt.
Do-over!
no subject
no subject
no subject
Not my favorite feature of those languages. In dutch we use "een aantal" "a number of" for a vague amount.
no subject
Per capita GDP:
ITA 27700
FRA 28700
NED 29500
More efficient language makes everyone better off!
QED.
Seventeen!
no subject
no subject
"It depends"
no subject
We knew that.
I meant to add that this distinction was the general consensus among the language geeks (information developers and otherwise) who used to discuss such matters online at My Big Imployer back before they all got laid off. Probably no more than half confessed to using the noun loosely themselves, but everyone recognized the use as common, and almost all understood the adjective to mean strictly two.
According to my guide . . .
As for whether it denotes exactly two or possibly more or less depends on the usage. For example, a recipe that called for a "couple sprigs of rosemary" is probably not calling for exactly two sprigs but about that amount. Still, "couple" traditionally denotes a pair, just as the verb form denotes the joining of two things.
Okay, I think I've reached nerdiness quota for the day.