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....
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syntheid
no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-06 10:16 am (UTC)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....