Several/few
Man in the Funny Hat
Hero
Context is important:
I went to the store with $200. I only have a few bucks left - $15.
Out of 8 gamers only a few had ever played gnomes - two.
A few of us went to the movies. "Us" could be 6 people or 600. What's "a few" of that amount?
Several is similar but seems more likely to refer to a single digit number to me. As my dictionary says - more than two, but less than "many".
I went to the store with $200. I only have a few bucks left - $15.
Out of 8 gamers only a few had ever played gnomes - two.
A few of us went to the movies. "Us" could be 6 people or 600. What's "a few" of that amount?
Several is similar but seems more likely to refer to a single digit number to me. As my dictionary says - more than two, but less than "many".
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
A couple is two, a few is three, a handful is four or five, and several is six or more ... up to about ten when "many" takes over.
tuxgeo
Adventurer
This.
In one of his science articles (as contrasted with science fiction), Isaac Asimov described what he said was perhaps the scarcest element on the planet: he said there were hardly any atoms of it on earth at all -- "Only a trillion." (That quote may have been the title of the article.)
It's relative. I'm not sure what it is relative to, but that might also depend on context.
For example: How many Borg spaceships is a "few?" Is one Borg ship a "few?" (Personally, I would think it's rather a lot to handle. I've seen that Star Trek movie about going back in time. . . .)
Zombie_Babies
First Post
2: couple
3: few
4: some
5+: many
I have no idea why that's hardcoded in my brain as it is and no idea whether or not it's caused any confusion.
3: few
4: some
5+: many
I have no idea why that's hardcoded in my brain as it is and no idea whether or not it's caused any confusion.
Jan van Leyden
Adventurer
And my English teacher at school always told us that a "couple of things" is most assuredly more than two...
"Several" means a handfull but without any number in mind, while "few" sounds more like a fixed number without actually counting.
Ed_Laprade
Adventurer
Generally this, but as the Man in the Funny Hat says, context can be important.
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
sabrinathecat
Explorer
Early accounting was "1, 2, many." This lead to problems, as "Many enemies are coming over the hill" could mean 4-5, or an army, thus the chief didn't know whether to arm a few soldiers to protect the tribe, or run for the hills. Thus the invention of "Smeg-loads." This was very helpful, and solved the problem for a while. Sadly, while the king might know that he had smeg-loads of wives, keeping track of which was where and such like became a more complicated matter. This lead to the invention of modern mathematics.
--not necessarily accurate history, paraphrased from "Red Dward: The Log"
--not necessarily accurate history, paraphrased from "Red Dward: The Log"
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