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What's the most petty/pointless/pedantic hill you're willing to die on? (programming.dev)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/asklemmy

1267 comments fedilink hide all child comments

For me, it may be that the toilet paper roll needs to have the open end away from the wall. I don't want to reach under the roll to take a piece! That's ludicrous!

That or my recent addiction to correcting people when they use "less" when they should use "fewer"

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[–] Eiri 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Aw come on, those are two very different meanings of the word in my book. As it happens, the couple of eggs I took out of the fridge aren't in a romantic relationship.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Look in any English language dictionary. Show me an entry that states a couple is more than two

I‘ll wait.

[–] Eiri 2 points 3 months ago

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/couple-few-several-use

Couple is used to refer to two things, but is also often used for a small number greater than two.

by the 1500s, it was also being used in the phrase a couple of to refer to an indefinite but still small number of people or things

Verdict: couple is used of small numbers most of the time, but usually at least two or more.

So yeah, the meaning of "at least two but possibly a bit more than that" has been around for a loooooong time.