So many people slamming “a couple things” as careless? It strikes me as completely natural, both in speech and writing; I’m thoroughly accustomed to utterances like “I’ll be back in a second. I just have to go to the grocery store and pick up a couple things”. Until reading this thread, I didn’t even realize there were people who felt otherwise. But people are notoriously unaware of their own speech patterns.
I should note I also find “a couple of things” completely natural as well. I imagine they’re in free variation in my own speech.
(I’m an American, with my speech generally reflecting my formative years in the suburbs of north New Jersey, and my writing generally reflecting my speech, though, of course, I have various idiosyncrasies in both areas)
There’s several more if you do a search of “couple” on Cecil’s columns.
In fact, I have a vague recollection of a thread some years ago asking why the Perfect Master used this construction. I think the Teeming Millions concluded that it was an example of a regionalism within the US accent.
First of all, I certainly do say “a couple things,” and it is not because the “of” was elided (thought that may happen, too.) Secondly, I most certainly don’t do it to sound uneducated. I usually get the opposite criticism–I even pronounce the g at the end of present participles habitually.
Do you mean that you actually pronounce a ‘g’ sound (as in “glass") at the end of words like “eating”, or do you just mean that you use the special ‘n’ sound from "sink" rather than the ‘n’ sound from "sin”?
Since you singled out present participles, I suspect the latter. I also suspect the latter because the former is, to my knowledge, highly unusual among modern English accents, though I’m told it can be found in parts of northern England and around Long Island.
So we can see that my comment should perhaps be tempered. It is used when the speaker chooses to sound less “formal” or “elevated.” In my own personal opinion, that’s pretty equivalent to most speech patterns utilized by less educated people. Just IMHO.
Cecil’s language always looks a little unusual to me. I suspect he chooses certain words and phrases simply because of their coolness factor. For example, he uses some British English instead of American; he’ll write ‘arse’ instead of ‘ass’.
I’m American, and I’ve never heard “couple things.” I’ve heard “A couple things” on the odd occasion, as in "“I’d like to go over a couple things.” If anything, dropping the indefinite article seems to be British usage. Brits here will say – and write – “That was bit of a bother,” instead of “That was a bit of a bother.” I first noticed this in the writings of local British author Roger Crutchley, who is also the Sports Editor at the the Bangkok Post. Then I started picking up on it in other British writings.
