5 ms·

don't forget: several = 5-10 handful = 10-20 Personally, after having worked in a hardware store, I always confirm. "grab me a couple of those please" - "is

don't forget: several = 5-10 handful = 10-20 Personally, after having worked in a hardware store, I always confirm. "grab me a couple of those please" - "is two enough, or do you need a few extra?" I'm one of those people for whom a couple is 3-5, but never 2. I would just say "two".

goopypoop 1y ago
I'd like a handful of bowling balls, please.
- Daneel_ 1y ago
  I mean, sure. That doesn't necessarily seem like a weird statement to me. It's more than several, but still a manageable number.
  - goopypoop 1y ago
    Great! In that case I'll take two handfuls of bowling balls and several wheelbarrows. Maybe I should get a couple (4) more wheelbarrows to be safe, bring it down to under 4 balls per barrow
    - Daneel_ 1y ago
      If you're trying to provoke a "wait, that's not what I meant" response with that sarcasm, you won't get it :) Use depends on context, like all language, and deliberately choosing a situation that doesn't suit the language will obviously result in confusion.
      - goopypoop 1y ago
        I'm just really enjoying the absurd scenario we've created
onionisafruit 1y ago
Handful is 5 unless you are talking about something that can physically fit in your hand ( in that case it’s however much can fit in your hand ).
- Daneel_ 1y ago
  Handful is more than "several" to me, and several tops out around 10, hence 10-20 being a handful. Anything that's a word instead of a precise number implies a range to me (eg, few, handful, several).
  - onionisafruit 1y ago
    Despite coming across like I was trying to correct you, I only meant to give my personal understanding of “handful” I don’t know where I got my idea of handful, but it probably came from how high I can count using the fingers on one hand. So far that understanding seems to work for me when other people say it as long as I do what you said and treat it as an approximation. On the “several” topic, I used to think it meant “about seven” because of the shared “sev” prefix, but it didn’t take long to realize several has a much bigger range than that.
throwaway422432 1y ago
I think it depends on where you grow up. Still not as amorphous as the word "now" and its various prefixes when it comes to South Africans and time.
_carbyau_ 1y ago
> a couple is 3-5, but never 2 For me it depends on the formality. For example, a married couple is never more than two people.
- Daneel_ 1y ago
  Ahh, that's different than referring to a count of things though - you can't hand a couple of married people to someone, for example. But "Hand me a couple of screws, would you?" - I'd pass them 3-4 screws, not 2.
867-5309 1y ago
a couple is always two. anything more is several, up to half a dozen
- Daneel_ 1y ago
  So if I said "hand me a couple of screws, would you?" - you'd give me exactly 2? If you know you want an exact number I would always use the exact number. I'd never say "give me a dozen screws", I'd just say "give me 12 screws". Named quantities are almost always a range rather than a definitive number as far as I'm concerned.
  - 867-5309 1y ago
    indeed I would hand you two. if you asked for double next time, surely you'd expect four
_carbyau_ 1y ago
This is what I love about language. "several" and "handful" have waaay different meanings to me. In practice my immediate response for "several" would be to use it interchangeably with "few". 3-5. But all these comments make me think that maybe it should fill my [gap] at "seven-ish". I mean, the "seve" bit does kinda lend itself. [0] Tangentially, several is from 'Medieval Latin separalis "separable," ' as in '(as in went their several ways)' . So to link it with "seven" would be a weird thing to do but I imagine this kind of thing happens with a living language. [0] https://www.etymonline.com/word/several https://www.etymonline.com/word/several As for "handful"... you and I are worlds apart on that one! :-P Hand has four fingers, five digits. So "handful" is 4-5 for me. But as other comments alluded, if the [thing] is a batch of small something (like sand) then it's simply how much you can grasp. As I mentioned these words have surprisingly varied definitions between people! One of the wonders of a living language.

goopypoop 1y ago

I'd like a handful of bowling balls, please.

Daneel_ 1y ago
I mean, sure. That doesn't necessarily seem like a weird statement to me. It's more than several, but still a manageable number.
- goopypoop 1y ago
  Great! In that case I'll take two handfuls of bowling balls and several wheelbarrows. Maybe I should get a couple (4) more wheelbarrows to be safe, bring it down to under 4 balls per barrow
  - Daneel_ 1y ago
    If you're trying to provoke a "wait, that's not what I meant" response with that sarcasm, you won't get it :) Use depends on context, like all language, and deliberately choosing a situation that doesn't suit the language will obviously result in confusion.
    - goopypoop 1y ago
      I'm just really enjoying the absurd scenario we've created

onionisafruit 1y ago

Handful is 5 unless you are talking about something that can physically fit in your hand ( in that case it’s however much can fit in your hand ).

Daneel_ 1y ago
Handful is more than "several" to me, and several tops out around 10, hence 10-20 being a handful. Anything that's a word instead of a precise number implies a range to me (eg, few, handful, several).
- onionisafruit 1y ago
  Despite coming across like I was trying to correct you, I only meant to give my personal understanding of “handful” I don’t know where I got my idea of handful, but it probably came from how high I can count using the fingers on one hand. So far that understanding seems to work for me when other people say it as long as I do what you said and treat it as an approximation. On the “several” topic, I used to think it meant “about seven” because of the shared “sev” prefix, but it didn’t take long to realize several has a much bigger range than that.

throwaway422432 1y ago

I think it depends on where you grow up. Still not as amorphous as the word "now" and its various prefixes when it comes to South Africans and time.

_carbyau_ 1y ago

> a couple is 3-5, but never 2 For me it depends on the formality. For example, a married couple is never more than two people.

Daneel_ 1y ago
Ahh, that's different than referring to a count of things though - you can't hand a couple of married people to someone, for example. But "Hand me a couple of screws, would you?" - I'd pass them 3-4 screws, not 2.

867-5309 1y ago

a couple is always two. anything more is several, up to half a dozen

Daneel_ 1y ago
So if I said "hand me a couple of screws, would you?" - you'd give me exactly 2? If you know you want an exact number I would always use the exact number. I'd never say "give me a dozen screws", I'd just say "give me 12 screws". Named quantities are almost always a range rather than a definitive number as far as I'm concerned.
- 867-5309 1y ago
  indeed I would hand you two. if you asked for double next time, surely you'd expect four

_carbyau_ 1y ago

This is what I love about language. "several" and "handful" have waaay different meanings to me. In practice my immediate response for "several" would be to use it interchangeably with "few". 3-5. But all these comments make me think that maybe it should fill my [gap] at "seven-ish". I mean, the "seve" bit does kinda lend itself. [0] Tangentially, several is from 'Medieval Latin separalis "separable," ' as in '(as in went their several ways)' . So to link it with "seven" would be a weird thing to do but I imagine this kind of thing happens with a living language. [0] https://www.etymonline.com/word/several https://www.etymonline.com/word/several As for "handful"... you and I are worlds apart on that one! :-P Hand has four fingers, five digits. So "handful" is 4-5 for me. But as other comments alluded, if the [thing] is a batch of small something (like sand) then it's simply how much you can grasp. As I mentioned these words have surprisingly varied definitions between people! One of the wonders of a living language.