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In today's pedantry corner, I must ask why we say "a few minutes" when "a" is singular and "minutes" is plural. We don't say "a several minutes" or "a many minutes," do we? P.S. "Few" is a word that sounds weird when you say it a few times. Fyoo fyoo fyoo!
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Mar 2, 2024 05:20
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Because few is singular. There is only one few being counted but multiple minutes.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:22
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------------------------8<------------------------ Close thread, goldmine.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:23
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A bunch of A plethora of A couple of A few of
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Mar 2, 2024 05:24
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The English put on a good show but basically they don't know what they're doing op
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Mar 2, 2024 05:24
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A butt load
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Mar 2, 2024 05:25
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hang on a minute
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Mar 2, 2024 05:25
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It’s the same reason you own several pairs of pants and a pair of shoes. English is messed up.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:28
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Pick your poison: analytical language with articles? Or synthetic language with a dozen cases and three genders?
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Mar 2, 2024 05:28
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Think of it like "A cup of beans".
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Mar 2, 2024 05:28
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Do you understand how groups of things work, OP? Or maybe I should say: do you understand how a group of things works, OP?
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Mar 2, 2024 05:31
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XYZAB posted:Pick your poison: analytical language with articles? Or synthetic language with a dozen cases and three genders? ein eine einen few
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Mar 2, 2024 05:36
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Minutes probably have a dumb collective noun the english pulled out of their rear end/asses like with lions and crows etc. A porcelain of minutes or something
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Mar 2, 2024 05:37
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None, zero, one, a couple, a few, several, many, numerous, countless, infinite.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:39
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Icochet posted:Minutes probably have a dumb collective noun the english pulled out of their rear end/asses like with lions and crows etc. Yeah they're called hours.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:41
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Fyoo Fighters
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Mar 2, 2024 05:42
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Because the person saying it is giving as little consideration to your request as they have their response. Are there people that really receive "a few minutes" as anything than, go away, I will get to it if I happen to remember it before you bother me with it at a more convenient time? I thought this was a universal "the check is in the mail", "I'll get you next time" situation.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:47
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Three Olives posted:Because the person saying it is giving as little consideration to your request as they have their response. I always tell people I'll be there or ready in a few minutes instead of saying I'm on the toilet so... yes? Or if dinner is almost done.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:50
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composer Percy Grainger funded a museum dedicated to himself at the University of Melbourne and along with his letters, manuscripts, and other personal effects he included a package they had to agree to open and display 10 years after his death and when they opened it up it contained bloody shirts and whips and photos of him self-flagellating and pics of his wife in bondage poo poo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4q3oK8_BQ0
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Mar 2, 2024 05:51
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Tarkus posted:None, zero, one, a couple, a few, several, many, numerous, countless, infinite. None means less than zero? But none is everything in that case, at least according to Elvis Costello.
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Mar 2, 2024 05:52
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Voting this thread few
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Mar 2, 2024 06:07
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9E9LPao2uM
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Mar 2, 2024 06:09
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In a similar vein I recently argued with a friend about whether "a couple" means "two" or "a few". I said it means "a couple" but I'm aware some people use it wrong.
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Mar 2, 2024 06:18
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kiminewt posted:In a similar vein I recently argued with a friend about whether "a couple" means "two" or "a few". nah, you are right, it means a couple
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Mar 2, 2024 06:20
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Then what the hell does my wife mean when she says she finds our couplings unsatisfying?
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Mar 2, 2024 06:22
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Funky See Funky Do posted:Then what the hell does my wife mean when she says she finds our couplings unsatisfying? nothing good my friend
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Mar 2, 2024 06:24
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Funky See Funky Do posted:Then what the hell does my wife mean when she says she finds our couplings unsatisfying? Just explain how you don't find her physically attractive anymore, she'll understand
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Mar 2, 2024 06:34
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kiminewt posted:In a similar vein I recently argued with a friend about whether "a couple" means "two" or "a few". just wait until you throw several into the "how many is a few and how many is a couple" argument a couple is 2 or very little a few is 3-5 several is like 5-7 idk
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Mar 2, 2024 06:53
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RavenousScoot posted:just wait until you throw several into the "how many is a few and how many is a couple" argument I feel the same.
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Mar 2, 2024 06:56
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Few is a noun. The other examples you give are adjectives. This is a total failure of pedantry.
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Mar 2, 2024 07:06
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AKA Pseudonym posted:Few is a noun. The other examples you give are adjectives. This is a total failure of pedantry. But that would be "a few of minutes." Icochet posted:Minutes probably have a dumb collective noun the english pulled out of their rear end/asses like with lions and crows etc.
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Mar 2, 2024 08:19
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When it comes to time, people are predictably imprecise.
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Mar 2, 2024 08:50
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Worf posted:Voting this thread few
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Mar 2, 2024 09:10
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love to be pedantic about things i didn't actually know.
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Mar 2, 2024 09:24
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NoiseAnnoys posted:love to be pedantic about things i didn't actually know. moving the thread to D&D
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Mar 2, 2024 09:49
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Worf posted:Voting this thread few
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Mar 2, 2024 09:49
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few is actually a determiner, and, yeah, it does have some strange properties por ejemplo, the word "anything" generally can't be used in affirmative sentences. that is, you can say "he didn't do anything," but it would sound odd to say "he did anything." one'd more likely phrase it as "he did something." correct? but when "few" is used, this property changes; it sounds perfectly fine to say "few did anything." this is called licensing negative polarity items. to "license" in linguistics just means to make something grammatically valid and "negative polarity items" are terms or constructions that are only found in negative contexts (negative here meaning "denoting the absence rather than presence of distinguishing features") 😮💨 SO, the other unusual property of "few," as you noticed (I would say rather astutely!), is that when modified by a second determiner, an article, its meaning changes to wit, the sentences "I have few apples" and "I have a few apples" have subtly different meanings. they both express, literally, "I have an indefinite but small quantity of apples," but the former specifically stresses that it is not many (often comparative to a real or potential larger amount), while the latter is the more neutral quantification that most of us are talking about itt we're pretty deep down the grammar rabbit hole now, though, and if that simple descriptive distinction doesn't satisfy your curiosity, I'd have to take a few levels in word nerd to even begin speculating as to why it's like this. I suspect that that would fall under historic or diachronic linguistics? my guess would be that the negative connotations (negative here meaning "not desirable") of "few" came first, and the use of the indefinite article "a" was borrowed from the similar term "a couple" in order to distinguish when it's being used strictly as a quantifier (in that way that the sort of fuzzy grammar of everyday speech doesn't follow strict rules and is only concerned with mutually intelligible meaning) but that's just a guess edit:  jesus christ, I forgot. the whole reason I brought up licensing negative polarity items is, while "few" licenses negative polarity items, "a few" doesn't.so while "few did anything" sounds fine, "a few did anything" sounds as wrong as "he did anything" isn't that fascinating? also I forgot to mention, using the definite article, "the few" has a similar effect to "a few" à la "the few, the proud, the brave" I'm also like 90% sure that there are other examples of words having slightly different definitions when paired with specific qualifiers, but I'm struggling to think of any right now. sorry. it's late and I'm tired Cubone fucked around with this message at 10:25 on Mar 2, 2024 |
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Mar 2, 2024 09:51
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a couple is precisely 2 wtf a few is from 3 to maybe 6 several is from maybe 5 to 8 i guess???
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Mar 2, 2024 09:53
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A few can be a couple but several is more.
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Mar 2, 2024 09:56
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I neatly side step this by never committing to any time frames and get weirdly aggressive if pressed
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Mar 3, 2024 01:08
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