> Couple is used to refer to two things, but is also often used for a small number greater than two
Is this an American thing? It would be obviously wrong to refer to any number not two as a "couple" in AU/NZ English.
Is this an American thing? It would be obviously wrong to refer to any number not two as a "couple" in AU/NZ English.
I (from Texas) use "couple" to mean two-ish-or-more whereas my wife (from New Mexico) uses couple to mean exactly two.
I use "couple" to (roughly) mean "just enough in small amounts" like:
- just a couple more minutes (obviously doesn't mean 2 minutes and 0 seconds)
- grab a couple of glasses (probably two unless there are three people)
- buy a couple of things (I'm making a short trip for a small number of things)
For those decrying using imprecise language, it's because these are scenarios where enumerating would give an incorrect level of precision.
Are you saying that when someone tells you, "Would you mind waiting a couple of minutes," that in all honesty you literally expect to wait two minutes, no more and no less?
Or that if someone in authority says, "I've got a couple of minor issues with your submission," you feel confident they will mention two and only two issues, and never start out with two but work their way up to seven?
I grant that the canonical expected value of a couple is "two." But it seems to me the reason people use "couple" as opposed to "pair" or just "two" is because it allows for some metaphorical wiggle-room.
This is a bad example, since "Would you mind waiting two seconds" might mean 90 seconds. But that doesn't mean you can say 2 instead of 90 in the general case.