The problem is that they have a number in mind, but refuse to state that number. My parents regularly get into arguments about how many of an item were purchas

The problem is that they have a number in mind, but refuse to state that number. My parents regularly get into arguments about how many of an item were purchased as my mother will never use a number. It is always some descriptor word like "few", or "several" or "plenty." Only after things are purchased will it be revealed that plenty means 16.