meaning of couple

Conversation started Mar 31, 2012 at 12:00.

Meysam

Mar 31, 2012 12:00

Guys please answer my question. @RegDwight said he is going to close a couple questions. And I asked:

10 mins ago, by Meysam

@RegDwightѬſ道 When does "couple" mean two and when does it mean a few? How can we know?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Meysam by looking at the context.

Meysam

@RegDwightѬſ道 I am looking but I can't get to know whether it means "two" or "some"

Should I look more?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Words are allowed to be ambiguous.

If you can't passively tell from the context, you will have to ask for active clarification.

If the speaker is dead or unavailable, all bets are off.

David Wallace

@Meysam If it doesn't mean "two", then it was just an approximation. Like if I say I gained 100 rep points today, I'm not lying if the exact number was 97 or 103.

Reg either means he's going to close two questions, or he's going to close approximately two questions. The issue is how many would he have to close for it to cease to be approximately two.

Meysam

@DavidWallace So when Reg says he is going to close a couple of questions, is he allowed to close like 10 questions?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Mar 31, 2012 12:04

I can close OVER 9000 questions, and still have closed a couple.

Meysam

@RegDwight Please actively clarify. How many question are you going to close?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Seven.

Eight if I'm on a roll.

David Wallace

@RegDwightѬſ道 Yeah, but that would be closing a couple, then rinsing and repeating 4500 times.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

And you infer my unwillingness or unability to rinse and repeat from which part of the context, exactly?

David Wallace

@Meysam I would say that if he does that, then he is using the word "couple" incorrectly. But please remember that I speak a regional dialect.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Mar 31, 2012 12:06

Also, as a pineapple I am allowed to use any and all words incorrectly.

David Wallace

Yes, Humpty Dumpty.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Did a couple fall.

Meysam

@RegDwightѬſ道 Not fair enough

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I never promised not to be not fair enough.

David Wallace

@RegDwightѬſ道 I'm not failing to deny that you never promised anything other than that.

user19161

Mar 31, 2012 12:07

@RegDwightѬſ道 I think it is "inability" but maybe you are trolling me.

Meysam

@RegDwightѬſ道 Fair enough

Conversation ended Mar 31, 2012 at 12:07.

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