Couple

Yoda

Xian keeps telling me that "a couple of things" is not just two things, but an indeterminate "few". This makes little sense to me. Dolan's Dictionary of Hiberno-English gives:

a few (not just two). 'Give me a couple of eggs'; 'a couple of days ago.' See cúpla focal.

Now s.v. cúpla focal we find

a few token words in Irish at the beginning of a speech in English < Ir cúpla focal, couple of words.

Cúpla as a noun in Irish means 'twins'. So as far as I can see, "couple" in Irish refers to two things, not an indeterminate few. Is "a couple of eggs" two eggs in Hiberno-English, or is it three or four?

ColinM

A couple means two.

But, it seems that so many people think that "a couple" is synonymous with "a few" that it might as well be.
Perhaps it does come from Gaeilge or a relaxed Irish attitiude to things in general, or a reluctance to be exact.

ColinM

Just thought of classic Irish directions. Once you get past the "well, if you wanted to get there, you wouldn't start from here" openers, you know that when you are told to go "a couple of miles down the road" not to panic if you've gone 5 miles by your odometer!

simu

According to my Collins dictionary, "a couple" can refer to a few things in informal language, which suggests that this isn't just Irish usage.