# Can a List have Only Two Items **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623 "2013-02-07T19:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MorrisCody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@MorrisCody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MorrisCody)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/1 "2013-02-07T19:57:21Z")
I remember reading somewhere (of course I can’t remember where) that to call something a “list” it must contain more than two items: [ol] [li]Is this true?[/li][li]If so, what would this be called?[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/2 "2013-02-07T20:00:13Z")
Paging Opal! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/3 "2013-02-07T20:04:49Z")
If you buy the dictionary definitions and accept that a series could be fewer than three things, then yes. Otherwise, no. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/4 "2013-02-07T20:06:10Z")
I think anyone who says a two-item list isn’t a list needs to get a real job. ---
**Author:** ![Richey84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Richey84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richey84)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/5 "2013-02-07T20:06:57Z")
This sounds like something philosophers would have debated in the Middle Ages. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/6 "2013-02-07T20:10:43Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > I think anyone who says a two-item list isn’t a list needs to get a real job. While I agree that a list can have any number of members, I don’t think that having a different opinion means you can’t be professinally employed. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/7 "2013-02-07T20:13:40Z")
Hell, I got NOTHIN’ on my To-Do list. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/8 "2013-02-07T21:19:04Z")
For those that say a list must include at least 3 items - If I need bread and milk from the store, what do I write myself? A shopping memo? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/9 "2013-02-07T21:25:20Z")
In LISP, lists can have 0 items. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/10 "2013-02-07T21:26:22Z")
You might be thinking of lists in the context of punctuation. Two items don’t receive any punctuation (not even a comma). Three items requires some punctuation to be easily readable. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/11 "2013-02-07T21:26:40Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > For those that say a list must include at least 3 items - > If I need bread and milk from the store, what do I write myself? A shopping memo? What if you just need milk? Can a list have only one item? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/12 "2013-02-07T21:35:48Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > What if you just need milk? Can a list have only one item? then you might have to have a list for butterfat, casein,calcium phosphate and be smart enough to buy them in emulsion form. ---
**Author:** ![FrankJBN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@FrankJBN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrankJBN)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/13 "2013-02-07T21:38:47Z")
“What if you just need milk? Can a list have only one item?” If I just need one item, I don’t need a list so the question is moot until I run out of butter. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/14 "2013-02-07T21:48:39Z")
> [@FrankJBN](#): > > “What if you just need milk? Can a list have only one item?” > > If I just need one item, I don’t need a list so the question is moot until I run out of butter. What if you have a bad memory? You got to the store and forgot why you went. If you had made a list of the milk then you could get the milk instead of returning home and then end up dying from dehydration. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/15 "2013-02-07T21:53:45Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > What if you have a bad memory? You got to the store and forgot why you went. If you had made a list of the milk then you could get the milk instead of returning home and then end up dying from dehydration. I think the question is if you have notepaper with milk written on it while you shop, does that constitue a “list.” Whatever a dictionary says, it’s IMHO territory. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/16 "2013-02-08T04:00:24Z")
I’d forget to take the list. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/17 "2013-02-08T04:02:48Z")
And can a medley contain only two songs? One? None? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/18 "2013-02-08T04:05:12Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > I’d forget to take the list. tie a string on your finger with the list attached ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/19 "2013-02-08T04:10:11Z")
I’ve crossed enough items off a list that its number of items is now negative. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623/20 "2013-02-08T04:10:21Z")
Seems more like a question of definition, in which case you should either consult a dictionary or decide for yourself. FWIW my opinion is yes that a list of two items is still a list. In mathematics the concept of a list is formalized as a sequence and a sequence can have two or one members or even (usually) zero members (such a sequence would be called the empty sequence). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-list-have-only-two-items/649623.md?page=2)