A linguistic interlude
Oct. 5th, 2006 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roadrunnertwiceOh, so here's something I learned today. In the Midwest, "a couple" — as in, the conversational, non-exact quantifier — means "two." As in, the exact, arithmetical quantifier.
Which was kind of confusing, the first few times some dude came in and asked for "a couple olive rolls" with no further offer of information. I was like, "okay, sure! How many?" and they were like "a couple?" and I was like, "great, how fucking many?"
So I've learned my lesson. In the spirit of reciprocity, here's how things work in the Pacific Northwest, AKA the real world:
If you wanted to say "two," we have a word for that. It's fucking pronounced like "TWO." One syllable less, and it actually means what it says. Works great! I highly recommend it!
Which was kind of confusing, the first few times some dude came in and asked for "a couple olive rolls" with no further offer of information. I was like, "okay, sure! How many?" and they were like "a couple?" and I was like, "great, how fucking many?"
So I've learned my lesson. In the spirit of reciprocity, here's how things work in the Pacific Northwest, AKA the real world:
- A few: Either three or four.
- A couple: More than a few. Anywhere between four and seven.
- Several: More than a couple. Between six and ten.
- Many: More still.
If you wanted to say "two," we have a word for that. It's fucking pronounced like "TWO." One syllable less, and it actually means what it says. Works great! I highly recommend it!