How many is a couple?

[Jim Koepke]

A couple = 2

A few is 3 or so

A bunch is when there are more than a few.

A couple of bucks on tools is what I tell my wife I spent. I never make clear as to whether it was a couple of 1 buck bills or 5 buck bills or 20 buck bills, unless I am sure she is going to find out.

A couple of beers is kind of short hand for saying I forgot to count after two, I didn't know there was going to be a test.

Just be aware if you are a bit tipsy, she will know you have consumed more than just two. Of course, some of the places I have been do serve beer in gallon containers for take out. Your state laws may vary.

jtk

[Jim Rimmer]

That's a funny discussion in a group of people that worry about 64ths.

Couldn't agree more.

[Gary Hodgin]

I use it both ways, but mostly two or more. I mean 2 if I'm referring to the "happy couple," but 2 or more if I tell my wife I'll paint the fence in a couple of days. I'll use a specific number when I want to be precise. I may have picked up this use since I married. In some cases I don't want to be real precise.

I use "in a minute" the same way, it means one or more but generally more.

[Brett Baldwin]

While I know that a couple means exactly two and a few is 3 or more, I think all but the most precise people use the phrase "a couple (of) [insert noun here]" as meaning 2+ but not a lot more, at least some of the time. It's really about being lazy and following the crowd in our speech patterns. Even though I'm the annoying type to use an imprecisely used "couple" to my advantage, I know I do it too.

Then of course you have to factor in the deceptive uses referred to by a few previous respondents. e.g. "No honey, I only had a couple beers."

[Bruce Page]

I may have picked up this use since I married. In some cases I don't want to be real precise.

LOL! That’s always been my philosophy too!

[John Pratt]

A couple of beers is kind of short hand for saying I forgot to count after two, I didn't know there was going to be a test.

jtk

Isn't that what every drunk tells the cop who pulls them over.

[Jeff Nicol]

A couple has always been 2 in my world, and when I mean more than 2 it is then a few, but after that it can go from many, a bunch, a lot or when all else fails use the exact number of miles, beers, dogs, or whatever you walked, drank or had or have. The only thing you can buy for tools at a "Couple" bucks is a cheap screw driver or maybe a beat up thing from a thrift shop or rummage sale, so I never say I spent a couple of bucks on tools as it is just not possible!

Jeff

[Belinda Barfield]

Kind of funny, but the SO and I are opposite in this. Of course a couple is two people. A "couple" of anything else to me can be two or more. He, on the other hand, has very strict rules whereby a couple is always 2, a few is 3, some is more than 3, and a handful is more than some. He left 64ths behind a few years ago for hundredths and thousandths.

A few weeks ago I was personalizing one of the wooden Ipad cases we fabricate. A laser engraving job that should have taken maybe 10 minutes including the location test took, I swear, two and a half hours of back and forth between the two of us over what exactly was the the center point of the case.

[Luc Vincent]

I voted 2 or more...mostly because it always seems like it takes more time to count to two, than it does just to grab "a couple" of whatever and end up with a bonus depending on how many you can grab with one hand. If there's money involved though..I usually count what I need...LOL!

[Larry Edgerton]

I always thought it was two, but......

When I have a couple of chocolates the whole concept get confusing.........

Larry

[Greg Peterson]

This is what happens when you been married for a while. You no longer disagree about how to solve world peace or the meaning of life. You disagree about the stuff that really matters.

Without taking sides, the key to this 'conversation' context.

It can mean two or a pair. It can also imply an approximation.

Depending on the context, 'a couple' can be a casual way of saying two. Or it can mean you are my next priority, as in "Give me a couple seconds". Surely no one would expect that to mean two seconds.

[Jim Heikes]

From the area of USELESS information........in Fox Hunting 12 1/2 couple = 25 hounds soooooooo a couple = 2.

[Gary Hodgin]

I can't argue with fox hunting rules, so 2 it is.

[Robert Ethan]

My wife and I are a couple...My wife, I and our kids are a family, not a couple, but I do have a couple of kids and a couple of grand-children...COUPLE = 2...period. Maybe some of you have a different explanation for a couple; therefore what are your definitions for one, a couple, and many/several? Words are powerful, but often used incorrectly. Might be why lawyers make big bucks…and why it’s hard to read legal text. Now I can go argue with the wife about what a pinch of something is!!!

[Brian Kent]

I have had a couple of posts removed. I have deserved to have my posts removed a couple of times.
In this case it means I can remember two for sure, but don't pin me down on two.
I went on line and bought a couple of tools, for which I spent a couple of bucks. That means at least two, but I really don't want to 'fess up.
"Honest officer, I only had a couple of drinks!" means "I am lying to a police officer, who for sure will not believe me."
You can couple a hundred train cars together.