when people say "a couple" what do they mean?

Question

for example "a couple of apples" or " a couple of bags".. do they mean "two" or "a few"???

Answer 1

It is supposed to be used refering to two but some people will occasionally use it as few although it technically it isnt correct

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Yes, a couple means two, 2 apples, 2 bags, 2 people.

A happily married couple is a man and wife.

A couple bucks means $2.

They will return in a couple minutes.

Answer 4

Avatars refer to a concept that is not any different at all from your "real" name as also only concept. This is a spiritual question because, in fact, there is nothing such as a You that exists. The You/Me/I which folks think they are is a linguistic convention for something that exists only in a dualistic consciousness. Importantly and ultimately, there is not a You and Your Life. There is not God except as your dualistic consciousness thinks one up. Knowing this or even just acting as if this were true changes behavior in a positive way. Thinking there is a God usually (not always) results in the worst kind of behavior because of the divisive delusion and ultimate arrogance it is based on. The practice of remembering and reminding one's "self" this is usually called religion in the broadest sense. Kshetra means a field of action and a holy place - sometimes site of a war - which affects consciousness in the way that physics describes reality. The World Trade Center Site in New York is one such Kshetra.

Answer 5

I think that if you take the literal meaning of "a couple" it should be two, but when people say it, it could mean 2-4.

Answer 6

Two items of the same kind; a pair.
Something that joins or connects two things together; a link.
(used with a sing. or pl. verb)
Two people united, as by betrothal or marriage.
Two people together.
Informal. A few; several: a couple of days.
Physics. A pair of forces of equal magnitude acting in parallel but opposite directions, capable of causing rotation but not translation.

Answer 7

theoretically, "a couple" would be 2 while "a few" would mean 3. Now...when i ask my buddy if he needs help carrying something and he says no, there are just a couple of bags...in my experience, if i went to look, there would probably be 3 or 4. go figure? i guess it depends on who said what and when and how they said it.

Answer 8

Two.

Answer 9

usually people mean exactly 2, unless they don't know that a couple actually means to then its really whatever they think it means.

Answer 10

i don't get it, if a couple means 2 why does no one say she has a nice couple of boobs?