assorted comments

[James Harbeck]

>Now, having said that, I'd like to add a comment spawned by my above
>comment: What's happened, lately, to cause the phrase 'a couple of (days, or
>whatever)' to morph into 'a couple (days or whatever)'? Why has the
>preposition disappeared, in this phrase?

Although there are still many who will insist that it is a gross
error to drop the proposition, and it is in any event considered
informal, the OED has citations of it as early as 1925. My guess is
that it's by analogy with "a dozen," although it may be at least in
part just the result of a gradual deletion of the "of" -- coming by
way of "a coupla," which the OED has from 1908.

Ciao,
James Harbeck.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org