OT for Lia and other spellers

Around here couple is 2. In my bed a couple is 2. How about you and
Mr. Esther? VBEG
The local LA news ran stories of students that area universities
accepted in because of the hurricane problems. The fallout from the
hurricanes is so great.
Taria

Polly Esther wrote:
It may be a regional thing. If I say I have a couple of boxes on the back
porch or a couple of white sweatshirts, I mean a little number. While
you're here - are you aware of the woes of Loyola and Tulane? They just had
the stuffing beat out of them by Katrina. Polly

"Dee in Oz" wrote in message
oups.com...

I have always known a couple to be 2 and a few to be 3 - ????

Dee in Oz

I take it to mean the same as you, a vague number, more than one, but less
than 5. Maybe an imaginary number between 2 and 3. A "couple" usually means
2 when discussing people, unless I'm talking about having people over for a
party or something, and then that vague number comes into play.
DH is firm in his belief that 2 is a couple, 3 is a few, and 4 or more is a
group or some other word. Maybe it's because I'm from Quebec and we don't
really have a word for "few" in French? "Un couple" is a couple, as in a
relationship, and "une couple" is a couple or a few.
Just my 2 cents...
Michelle in Borden


"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
...
Here's a regional usage that I haven't seen discussed befo What's the
meaning of "couple"? Is it closer to two or few?


I grew up in Miami. "Couple" meant a vague small number. It be two, but
it could also be one or 3. Who's counting. A couple of candies meant a
small handful, smaller than a few, not a definite number.
snipped
So here's the question: What does "couple" mean to you? Is it "a few"?
Or "two"?


--Lia

"A couple" is 2, but "a couple-a" is from 1-5. I'm part of a married couple,
and I know a couple-a ways to fix collard greens.

--
Wendy
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
De-STUFF email address to reply
"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
...
Here's a regional usage that I haven't seen discussed befo What's the
meaning of "couple"? Is it closer to two or few?


I grew up in Miami. "Couple" meant a vague small number. It be two, but
it could also be one or 3. Who's counting. A couple of candies meant a
small handful, smaller than a few, not a definite number.


I went to college in New Orleans. I was out of college and chatting with
a friend there from New Jersey. I don't remember how we got on the
subject, but he insisted that "couple" meant "two" as in a pair. He was
adamant that it couldn't mean anything else. When two people are dating,
they make a "couple," and anything else is kinky. We were always getting
into competitive discussions like this, and I normally won the ones about
words so I couldn't have been more surprised when I got the dictionary and
found that one of the definitions of "couple" was "two items of the same
kind; a pair." Boy do I hate it when I'm sure I'm right then I'm not.


Fast forward 25 years. I work in a wine and cheese shop in New England.
The customer was buying a number of items that I was getting for her and
putting in a basket. She asked for a couple of packaged sausages that
were behind the counter. As I was reaching for them, I asked her how many
she'd like. She was a nice lady and so not truly perturbed, but I thought
I caught a touch of "what sort of idiot are you" in her voice as she
answered "two." (At that point I laughed and explained that I'd only
recently been coming to the conclusion that "couple" could have a regional
meaning; she understood. The conversation turned to regionalisms, and I
liked her more than ever.)


Later that week I was talking again with my friend who was visiting. She's
originally from Hattiesberg. We met in New Orleans. She's lived up here
where I do in the Northeast and now lives in London. Naturally, we were
talking about New Orleans and her family down South. All of a sudden I
asked her the meaning of "couple." She laughed and said "well, that
depends." The way I grew up it was an indiscriminate number, a small one,
but not definite, but up here (shrug) ..." And she let her voice trail
off.


It's the funniest thing. I don't have what you would call a Southern
accent, not from Miami. I adopted "y'all" and "all y'all only in New
Orleans. I understand when a casual acquaintance, male or female,
possibly a clerk in a store or a server in a restaurant, calls me
"sweetheart" or "doll" or "babe," but those words don't trip off my tongue
with any degree of ease. And yet somehow I got the Southern definition of
"couple" not the Northeastern one.


So here's the question: What does "couple" mean to you? Is it "a few"?
Or "two"?


--Lia

"Taria" asked Around here couple is 2. In my bed a couple is 2. How
about you and Mr. Esther?
Well, it depends. Sometimes there's a Yorkie, a fat cat, an
over-fed gator with a bellyache, a not-grown-enough for sleep over
great-grand (or more) and perhaps Ben Gay. Polly

Wendy, there are not a couple of ways to fix collard greens. Any deviation
is heret- goodness, I'm too upset at the very notion to spell the word.
Polly

"frood" wrote in message
m...
"A couple" is 2, but "a couple-a" is from 1-5. I'm part of a married
couple, and I know a couple-a ways to fix collard greens.

you wild and crazy kids : )
Taria

Polly Esther wrote:
"Taria" asked Around here couple is 2. In my bed a couple is 2. How
about you and Mr. Esther?
Well, it depends. Sometimes there's a Yorkie, a fat cat, an
over-fed gator with a bellyache, a not-grown-enough for sleep over
great-grand (or more) and perhaps Ben Gay. Polly

And, I have only ever heard it "itsy-bitsy!"
--
Donna in Idaho
Website: www.LinusIdaho.org

"Dee in Oz" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have only ever heard of Incy Wincy.
DH was born in NSW too but moved to SA when he was about 2. DM was born
in Tassie ( with a long family history there) and DDad was born in SA
with a long history there.

Dee in Oz

I always thought couple meant two! Guess I never lived in a part of the
country that consider couple as few.
--
Donna in Idaho
Website: www.LinusIdaho.org

"AliceW" wrote in message
. ..
Couple=two, but that's just me.

--
Alice in NJ, Royal Cybrarian
http://www.ourcyberfamily.us/
"Just about the time a woman thinks her work is done, she becomes a
grandmother." Edward H. Dreschnack



"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
...
: Here's a regional usage that I haven't seen discussed befo What's
: the meaning of "couple"? Is it closer to two or few?
:
:
: I grew up in Miami. "Couple" meant a vague small number. It be two,
: but it could also be one or 3. Who's counting. A couple of candies
: meant a small handful, smaller than a few, not a definite number.
:
:
: I went to college in New Orleans. I was out of college and chatting
: with a friend there from New Jersey. I don't remember how we got on the
: subject, but he insisted that "couple" meant "two" as in a pair. He was
: adamant that it couldn't mean anything else. When two people are
: dating, they make a "couple," and anything else is kinky. We were
: always getting into competitive discussions like this, and I normally
: won the ones about words so I couldn't have been more surprised when I
: got the dictionary and found that one of the definitions of "couple" was
: "two items of the same kind; a pair." Boy do I hate it when I'm sure
: I'm right then I'm not.
:
:
: Fast forward 25 years. I work in a wine and cheese shop in New England.
: The customer was buying a number of items that I was getting for her
: and putting in a basket. She asked for a couple of packaged sausages
: that were behind the counter. As I was reaching for them, I asked her
: how many she'd like. She was a nice lady and so not truly perturbed,
: but I thought I caught a touch of "what sort of idiot are you" in her
: voice as she answered "two." (At that point I laughed and explained
: that I'd only recently been coming to the conclusion that "couple" could
: have a regional meaning; she understood. The conversation turned to
: regionalisms, and I liked her more than ever.)
:
:
: Later that week I was talking again with my friend who was visiting.
: She's originally from Hattiesberg. We met in New Orleans. She's lived
: up here where I do in the Northeast and now lives in London. Naturally,
: we were talking about New Orleans and her family down South. All of a
: sudden I asked her the meaning of "couple." She laughed and said "well,
: that depends." The way I grew up it was an indiscriminate number, a
: small one, but not definite, but up here (shrug) ..." And she let her
: voice trail off.
:
:
: It's the funniest thing. I don't have what you would call a Southern
: accent, not from Miami. I adopted "y'all" and "all y'all only in New
: Orleans. I understand when a casual acquaintance, male or female,
: possibly a clerk in a store or a server in a restaurant, calls me
: "sweetheart" or "doll" or "babe," but those words don't trip off my
: tongue with any degree of ease. And yet somehow I got the Southern
: definition of "couple" not the Northeastern one.
:
:
: So here's the question: What does "couple" mean to you? Is it "a few"?
: Or "two"?
:
:
: --Lia
:

One that drives me nuts is pronouncing tour as "tore" instead of "toor".

Sharon Harper wrote:
what about pasgetti instead of spaghetti? Or aks instead of ask? But what
about the plain old fashioned forgetting to say please and thank you????
Drives me nuts. mmm-hmmm, it does.

Me too.

AliceW wrote:
Couple=two, but that's just me.