[Ads-l] Ever pondered this question?

[Peter Reitan]

When I was about six, my much older sister told me that a couple were two, a few was three, many was four, a lot was five and six made a group. I took those specific definitions to heart and believed them for many years. Even when I understood that people used them interchangeably and loosely, I thought the values were technically "correct."
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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of W Brewer <brewerwa at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2020 12:34:24 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Ever pondered this question?

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
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Subject:      Re: Ever pondered this question?
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There's quite a few people believe that.   ("quite a few" = many)

On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 12:00 PM Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> An old Army buddy, Nolan, writes about another old Army buddy, Bill:
> "He believed that _few_ was greater than _several_ and, as recently as last
> week, I've been asking people about that comparison."
>
> That is to say that he's been pondering this question since we were
> students at the Army Language School, in 1960!
>
> FWIW, IMO, _few_ is *less* than _several_.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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