Jon Bois: "a couple," "a few," and "several" all equal exactly 4

"a couple," "a few," and "several" all equal exactly 4

2-3, 3-4, 3-6

hard agree

Perfection.

I always capped "several" at 7 due to phonetic similarity. It just helps me remember. Anything more than that is "many", "a lot", or "a metric f-tonne".

I get mad whenever someone tells me that “a couple means two”. if I asked you for a couple chips and you give me two chips you’re a bad friend.

If you want a few chips you should ask for a few chips, a good friend will give you exactly what you ask for (Couple = 2, few = 3-4, several = 5ish, I will die on this ever so slight rise in the landscape)

I will die with you on this slightly elevated areas of ground.

Couple = 2/3 (it could be an open, swinging couple. I don't judge. ), few = 4-5 (the "f" in "few" is the clue), several = 6-7ish (the "s" in "several" means something, dammit)

They're still a couple as in 2. There is the term "throuple" that is used for a poly kind of relationship that is 3. 2=couple 3=a few 4+ = several The F in few doesn't have any connection to the word four, it comes from an old Germanic word meaning small.

"Several l" has no connection to the number seven. It's derived from the Old Latin word "Separ" which is from "separare" which means "to pull apart"

The reason a couple is 2-3 is that if someone specifically wanted 2 they'd say 2, or at worst a pair. The only reason to use a colloquially more general term is that they *don't* wanting to commit to exactly 2. So ~2 could in theory be 1-3--but clearly they want a plural amount, so we're left w 2-3

A bunch is 7 idk why but it is

Then ask for a handful of chips A couple is two Do you know what they call a man and a women who are dating or married? A couple. It's not that controversial

We call any two people who are in a romantic relationship a couple.

I think if I tried to convince my partner that being a couple meant we needed more intimate partners, we wouldn't be a couple anymore.

2 is the correct meaning, but incorrect usage has grown over the years to become a secondary definition, same as using "literally" to mean the exact opposite of literally.

I wouldn't say it's incorrect neccesarily. It's just how language evolves over time.

Incorrect initially, until it becomes so common as to become effectively correct. Although I'd argue it sometimes renders words less useful. Literally was a word that was specifically useful in pointing out something is literal, and we have no real replacement for that.

Also where I'm from, "couple" to mean more than two actually isn't very common still, so it does create ambiguity when the word gets used in place of "few". Most often, couple is used to refer to two/a pair. "How many do you want?" "A couple", it's not meant to be ambiguous here.

www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/li...

Thesaurus results for LITERALLYwww.merriam-webster.com Synonyms for LITERALLY: accurately, directly, positively, actually, precisely, genuinely, really, verbatim; Antonyms of LITERALLY: freely, loosely, carelessly, inaccurately, metaphorically, imprecisel...

There's more than can reasonably be explained in a 300-character post, but a lot of those words have the same problem of non-literal usage or don't fit properly all the same contexts "literally" did.

My personal guideline for this: would I be happy if I received this amount of snack? Two potato chips: no. Two Oreo cookies: yes. Anyway, Jon is going to give me four Oreos because he's cool.

According to a contestant on the most recent season of Survivor, several means seven, because they share the same starts to the words.

Long live Jelinksy

Several is for when four is a lot like "angry bears on a hike", a few is for when four's not a lot like "M&M's", and a couple is for when four is just about right like "beers"

"Happy couple" referring to a 4-person polycule

a couple is exactly two. a few is 3-4. several is 5-9.

"A couple" = two. "A few" = three. "Several" = four. "A handful" = five or more. This is the dumbest hill I will die on.

ive always been of the daring opinion "several" is about 6

on this latest season of survivor a contestant got really mad and said that "several means seven" and they roasted him about it for the entire season even after he was voted off first. anyway, in that particular scenario, several actually did mean 4 youtu.be/ZPitk-M4hJw?...

Does Several Mean Seven? #Survivor46 #JelinskyQuits #Survivoryoutu.be Jelinsky quits and destroys the hourglass, clearly showing that he is someone you can't rely on. If you can't handle the heat, then you should've stayed home...

yes, those are a few examples that equal 4

A couple can either be 2 or any even amount up til around 10 depending on how the a is pronounced. A couple is any even amount an "ey" couple is two. A few is less than 6 and several are more than 3 but less than 10.

Yes! I was almost 30 years old when I first met someone who expected exactly 2 things when they asked for "a couple of things" (it was immediately after moving to Ohio). For my entire life previous to that, "a couple" just meant "more than 1 but less than 10 (most of the time)."

I also had this experience at around 30. Before that I always thought if it as having same meaning as some. And since I habe realized that people often say a couple differently if meaning 2, or 2 or more. But it's not 100%

What about “a couple three”?

Two or three

Nope. You're mistaken. Several means 7

My wife gets annoyed when I ask for " a couple two three four".

This brought a memory of working the Taco Bell drive thru and someone being totally befuddled by my not knowing they meant exactly “two” by “a couple”.

Incorrect. “Several” means 7.

If you watch Survivor you’d know that several means 7.

Relevant XKCD comic xkcd.com/1070/

Words for Small Setsxkcd.com

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subitiz... 🤔

Subitizing - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

A couple = 2 A few = 3 Some = 4 Several = 5 Many = 6 A plethora = ?

Same when you add them together

Suitable for testimony under oath.

+ or -?

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