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Linguistically Mistaking Phrases

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KaiRo

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Linguistically Mistaking Phrases

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12.06.2013 17:41

Lozzy

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Perhaps "several" suits?
I'm British and I generally accept "a couple" being an indeterminate number between 2 and 5 usually. Though when someone is talking about units of alcohol I tend to assume a higher number!

I believe the word "several" is more what you are looking for. It is more suited to describing indeterminate numbers ranging from 2 upwards. I personally would consider it to mean between 2 and 10.
12.06.2013 18:31

Stephan Sokolow

aus Canada

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Something to keep in mind regarding English...
Never forget that English isn't your typical Germanic language by a long shot.

We had a large portion of our lexicon replaced with French words during the Norman conquest of 1066 and, while our core grammar is relatively intact, that did have a big effect on how we use the language.
12.06.2013 19:16

Raj

aus Glasgow, UK

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I'm also British and I'd accept (and say!) a couple to mean more than one but fewer than lots. Maybe a US/UK difference?
12.06.2013 20:09

Mysterious Andy

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As a native speaker of en-us (Southern California), unless you are referring to people using the phrase "They are a couple," I take "couple" to mean at least 2, possibly more. Where "a couple of X" becomes "several X" depends on the nature of X and the speaker. "A couple of elephants" is probably fewer than 6, while "a couple of grains of sand" could be a few dozen.

"That is a good question" can also match your expectation. In my experience, modification that expresses surprise ("Wow, that's a good question.") clarifies that the respondent didn't previously consider the question. An immediate launch into an answer usually means the phrase was intended as the equivalent of "Thanks for bringing that up."
12.06.2013 20:34

Caspy7

aus US

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Agree with others here
My understand and experience in US culture is that the way we use 'couple' corresponds to the German usage you described.
I googled and found the definition: an indefinite small number

As for "That's a good question."
When someone asks me a question and I think it was good, I'll say so. I may or may not have the answer. There's a different connotation in either case of course ("That's a good question. I don't know." or "I appreciate your understanding/insight in asking.")

It is also used frequently in US politics when answering questions. Start with flattery, hope they miss the fact that you don't actually give an actual answer. It's very general and can be taken in more than one way.
"That's a good question and I'm glad you asked it. Somebody's got to ask it and there you go being awesome and asking it. That reminds me of <insert unrelated story>..."
12.06.2013 22:21

Anonymer Gast

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reminds me of the Episode "Big Brother" of the BBC Series Yes, Minister:

Jim: You know, I'm glad you asked that question.
Bob: Well Minister could we have the answer?
Jim: Well yes, of course, I was just about to give it to you, if I may. Yes as I said I'm glad you asked me that question because it's a question that a lot of people are asking, and quite so, because a lot of people want to know the answer to it. And let's be quite clear about this without beating about the bush the plain fact of the matter is that it is a very important question indeed and people have a right to know.
Bob: Minister, we haven't yet had the answer.
Jim: I'm sorry, what was the question?
12.06.2013 22:50

xkcd

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Relevant xkcd:


http://xkcd.com/1070/
12.06.2013 23:02

KaiRo

Webmaster

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Interesting to read those statements on "a couple". I for myself have made the experience that most of the time it's used for "two", as I described in the case of those "couple weeks", or in my watching of e.g. NFL Network in terms of "he needs a couple yards" or "he's been with the team for a couple of years" where it always was meant as "two" (plus/minus less than a half) - and the xkcd comic supports that as well. Apparently the usage expands from that up to the German usage. Thanks for the comments!
13.06.2013 00:26

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