I'll be back in a couple #TBT

Today's blog post was originally published two years ago:

A couple of what? Days? Weeks? Years? Minutes? Casual communications is very imprecise. Normally, you can get a good idea based on context. Without any further information it would probably be safe to assume a couple of blog posts or maybe a couple of days. But suppose you travel to visit your family every 2 years and you're saying goodbye to them...they could probably safely assume that you're talking about years.

How much is a couple? Two? Three? More? Less? If you're saying goodbye to a co-worker on Friday afternoon and you say "I'll see you in a couple of days", you probably mean that you'll see them on Monday...unless maybe you're getting together for a barbecue on Sunday.

Some people insist that a couple is exactly two...as in a married couple or a happy couple, which often may be the same. But how often is often? And how seldom is seldom? Seldom is not often and often is not seldom, but that could be the subject of another blog post.

I can't find the page now, but it said that all of these are an indeterminate number roughly as follows in my view:

A couple...around 2...maybe 2 or 3, but could be more depending on the context

A few...more than a couple...probably around 3 - 5, could be more or less

Several...more than a few...maybe 5 - 10, depending on context

A lot, many, a bunch, etc...more than several

A lot of this depends on context. A few dollars could be $3 - $5...probably less than $10 or $20. Unless you're Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, then a few might be several million.

How about a few pieces of candy? Depending on how much you like candy, that could be a couple of dozen pieces. Probably not exactly 24 pieces, but somewhere close to that. How about a handful? A handful of sand is quite a few grains of sand. I just grabbed a handful of regular M&M's. There were a few each of several different colors...5 yellow, 5 green. 4 blue, 4 brown and 3 orange. There is actually a breakdown of colors in a bag, according to Deal News:

On average, the mix of each variety of M&Ms follows these color percentage breakdown: M&M'S Milk Chocolate: 30% brown, 20% yellow, 20% red, 10% orange, 10% green, and 10% blue. M&M'S Peanut: 20% brown, 20% yellow, 20% blue, and 20% red, 10% orange, and 10% green.

There are 68,500 seats at Levi's Stadium. If you were at a Niners game and noticed that there were empty seats at the game, you may be tempted to say that there are a "few empty seats". Does that mean only 3 - 5 empty seats. Probably not, but it would be a small percentage.

Urgency or desire could also come into play. Suppose that an event is 6 months away. If you;re looking forward to a vacation in 6 months, it may be only a few months away. Or if your taxes are due in 6 months, you may still have several months left.

And then there are modifiers like very or quite. Very few is on the small side of few, possibly even a couple, while quite a few is more than a few...could even be several.

So, there you have a few (several?) of my thoughts on the subject.

 Interesting days

Today - Johnny Appleseed Day, Lumberjack Day, Fitness Day, Remember Me Thursday and Human Resource Professional Day

Tomorrow - Hug a Vegetarian Day, Tourism Day, Crush a Can Day, Love Note Day, Ancestor Appreciation Day, Morning Show Hosts Day and Corned Beef Hash Day

Week long celebrations:

September 23 - 29: International Week of Happiness at Work

Month long celebrations:

September 15 - October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month 

Next Thursday - Bring Your Bible to School Day, Boyfriend’s Day, Virus Appreciation Day and Techies Day

Month long celebrations:

September 15 - October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month

October 26 - Make A Difference Day, Hug A Sheep Day, Mule Day, Pumpkin Day, Howl At The Moon Day and Mincemeat Day