"DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'A COUPLE' AND 'A FEW'?"

[ralerin]

I work for Big Red U.S. Wireless Company in my local mall as a temporary greeter. This involves me carrying an iPad and walking the store talking to people and checking them into our line. Many people hate BRUWC because of it but it helps to control the crowd and make sure that everyone gets a turn. Sometimes it's fun being able to call out line jumpers.

Fun fact 1: I was diagnosed in May with 2 personality disorders, one of which is Anxiety Personality Disorder*.
Fun fact 2: I am American but have parents who primarily speak French at home; therefore I have a slight accent.

Our story takes place on a busy, crowded Sunday morning. Cue panic attack type symptoms and me trying desperately not to come unglued. I checked in a guy and told him there were "a couple" people in line ahead of him, meaning 3-4. There were already 4 people at the counter being helped plus the 4 in line ahead of him. Guy (let's call him R) sees the wait, sees the list on my iPad (at my store we do not have a screen on the wall that shows the line, I show my iPad to whoever asks), grumbles and then goes to stand in a corner.

40 minutes goes by, I'm trying to check in with everyone and reassure them that oh yes BRUWC is sorry about the wait but these guys will be with you as soon as they can, please be patient. I get to R and R is upset.

R:"How many are there in line ahead of me?"

Me:*checks* "Uhm, just two at the moment"

R:"THIS IS RIDICULOUS! I HAVE BEEN STANDING HERE FOR 40 MINUTES WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO HELP ME AND YOU TELL ME THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE IN LINE AHEAD OF ME? YOU SAID THAT THERE WERE A COUPLE 40 MINUTES AGO! A COUPLE MEANS TWO! DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'A COUPLE' AND 'A FEW'?"

Me: *stares, unblinking, trying to keep self calm. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe...*

R: "WHY DO THEY HIRE PEOPLE LIKE YOU WITH ACCENTS? JESUS CHRIST! I AM GOING TO MAKE A COMPLAINT ABOUT YOU!!!"

Me: *breathe. Breathe...no. This isn't working, tears are coming, must not lose it, must not lose it...run to the bathroom!*

Had myself a few minutes in peace trying to calm myself and stop crying before I went back out to be cheerful and sparkly like BRUWC wants me to be. By the time I got out, R was at the counter grumbling at whoever was helping him. A week later we got a report from R saying how the two who helped him were very nice and professional. Yet there was no mention of me. How strange.




*The other disorder is rather commonly stigmatized so please don't ask. However I am getting treatment for both of them and am making great progress because I am motivated to help myself.

[EvilEmpryss]

My kids and I actually had a discussion about the difference between a couple and a few just the other day. Consensus in my family is that a couple is two but no more than three. After that it becomes a few until you get to six and then it's a half-dozen. That carries you to about a dozen, but after that you can just use butt-load or beau-coup.

Still, getting pissy about it is stupid.

[Kheldarson]

My kids and I actually had a discussion about the difference between a couple and a few just the other day. Consensus in my family is that a couple is two but no more than three. After that it becomes a few until you get to six and then it's a half-dozen. That carries you to about a dozen, but after that you can just use butt-load or beau-coup.

Still, getting pissy about it is stupid.

You forgot "some". A few for me is always 3-4, and some carries through 5-8. Maybe up to 10.

[Silent-Hunter]

A 'couple' is SUPPOSED to be exactly 2, and a 'few' is SUPPOSED to be exactly 3. But NO ONE uses them that way! The SC would do well to remember that!

[Ironclad Alibi]

I've been tempted to come with a counting system for a role playing game. Something on the order of one, a couple, a few, some, several, many, a lot, tons, etc. Maybe someday I will actually codify it.

[mathnerd]

Don't forget a handful, which is exactly five.

[gremcint]

well seeing as how noone else has linked it yet, let's take it from the authority, XKCD http://xkcd.com/1070/

[katzklaw]

i was always told and taught that a couple was 2 and a few was 3, but he still shouldn't have screamed at you over something so trivial, really. >.>

[Seshat]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/couple says that in formal speech, 'a couple' means specifically two, but in idiomatic speech it means "a couple of, more than two, but not many, of; a small number of; a few".

The same source defines 'few' as 'a small number but more than one'. There is no specific number associated with 'few' or 'a few' at dictionary.reference.com.

The Oxford dictionary agrees with Dictionary.reference.com for both 'couple' and 'few'.

Merriam-Webster says that 'couple' can mean 'an indefinite small number'. However, it agrees with the above definition for 'few'.

[Evannah]

A couple doesn't mean two anymore. It's supposed to, but now everyone uses it to mean a few, as in two, three, four, even ten. Everyone knows this, surely. I think he knew also and just wanted to find something to use against you. As a sufferer of anxiety myself, I feel your pain.

[RealUnimportant]

A, couple, few, several, some, many; I'd only expect the first two to be used in reference to a specific number of items, but I've used "couple" to indicate a small non-2 number of minutes before when it was still less than 5, because subdividing further than that just confuses people.

[TheSHAD0W]

Just write it off under the insanity that is the english language. There's plenty enough crazy in there for SCs to latch on to. The only way to fix it is to avoid using imprecise words like "couple" and "few", and even then you'll wind up with arguments.

[Kit-Ginevra]

The only time it is vitally important is when you're at the altar. Then it is really rather different if you now become a married couple to becoming a married few...

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

Reminds me of a pet peeve of mine regarding one buddy. He'll send me a text saying something like "mind if I come over in a few?" then show up well over an hour later. Few minutes, not few hours, lol.

[Mondestrucken]

When I grew up, we always used couple and few interchangeably, i.e. - approximately 2 or 3.

But when I worked at Joanne's, I had a customer who asked for "a coupla yards," and she was astounded when I said I needed to know exactly what she wanted. Though part of it was that the customers almost always gave such precise measures: 2 1/4 yards, 3 1/8 yards, etc.

Still, that was a learning experience for me.