Blog#8 IMHO

“Ill be there in a few” a text rang on my phone. I rushed to put my breakfast away and slip on my shoes as I quickly made my way out the door. Eventually, I put down my backpack and decided to walk back inside; but as I was ready to give up, my friend turned the corner. She honked her horn to get my attention. 10 minutes. There should be a rule book that clearly states the difference between a couple, a few, and some. However, there are only grammar guidelines that we have learned in elementary school to help justify and define these terms. We know that few and couple refer to quantities less than four, and that some or several are more. I used to think a few was less than couple, based on how the person stated it. “I’m just going to eat a few more bites” or “there are a few errors on your paper.” “I’m going to eat a couple more bites” or “there are a couple of errors on your paper.” Using few and couple when referring to food could possibly interchange, especially in this situation. It sounds like one or two more bites. However, in the second set of examples, few sounds less than couple. I have been taught that few is anything between two and three while couple refers specifically to three to four. Some is anything from five and up, and could be interchanged with several or a lot. I asked my friend when did she send that text, and she declared that she only lives a few minutes away, so she sent it immediately after she jumped into the car. I was very aggravated. Maybe I was impatient or I was just in a hurry, but waiting outside of my house ready for school for ten minutes was too irrational to be considered a few. I would bet that in a large group of people, it would be split almost equally for those who consider few to be two or three, or vice versa for couple. However, online forums questions posted online and other online sources argue that couple means two while few is greater than two. Just like a relationship requires two people to be a couple, a couple refers only to two. There are only guidelines and no definite definition or rules that states which is greater. I was taught differently in school, and yet people around the world have made their own conclusions to his mix up. Is few less than couple or is it the other way around? Regardless of whether either is larger than the other, a few minutes is definitely less than ten. I should be glad it was not raining that morning.