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I'm an ESL speaker, and throughout my whole life I've always considered "a couple" to be equivalent to "a few". Then, I played Papers, Please and the author has
by worklaptopacct 3y ago
I'm an ESL speaker, and throughout my whole life I've always considered "a couple" to be equivalent to "a few". Then, I played Papers, Please and the author has always only used the term to mean exactly two. I still associate this meaning with that particular game.
- stavros 3y agoAlso ESL, I've always considered "a couple" to mean "a loose two". It could be three, maaaaybe four, but if you've gotten to five, you're pushing it.
- iteria 3y agoI'm American and that's what I would say for "a couple". "As few" to me is just a small amount compared what is typical. So a few marshmallows might be 2 because generally people have somewhere between 5 and 10. A few skittles might be 5 because people will take a handful normally which is 20 or so skittles. "Several" to me is "a little less than the average amount" so with our previous example 5 marshmallows, 10 skittles. I'd bet that most people have this kind of relative meaning for these words
- fknorangesite 3y ago> if you've gotten to five, you're pushing it. I agree; five is right out.