# How many, to you, is "a few" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811 "2005-12-22T16:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/21 "2005-12-23T06:28:26Z")
> [@Tevildo](#): > > Bucking the trend here - I would say three is still “a couple of”, rather than “a few”. 4-6 in the absence of context. Not only is it bucking tradition, it goes against formal definition too. Larry and Sue are a cute couple, but once you add Greg into the mix it’s a threesome 😃 A few starts at three. I don’t had a solid cut-off point that I generally have in mind, other than you can count it on your fingers. I’d have to know how many _what_ for context to be more definitive, because 8 chips is a few, but on the other hand 8 days off is several. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/22 "2005-12-23T08:41:33Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Not only is it bucking tradition, it goes against formal definition too. Larry and Sue are a cute couple, but once you add Greg into the mix it’s a threesome 😃 True, but colloquially, “couple” is synonymous with “few.” When somebody comes to borrow “a couple of bucks” you can be sure they’re not literally talking two dollars. I hesitate to use couple to mean anything but two (habit instilled by my English teachers), but it certainly can apply to numbers other than that in common usage. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/23 "2005-12-23T08:50:19Z")
Whenever I say a “few”, I probably mean _four_, but one more or one less won’t mess me up with whatever I want that “few” for. However, one more, to me, is overkill, so three or four is about correct. Five to sex is “several”. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/24 "2005-12-23T08:55:43Z")
Three or four. And I tend to think of ‘a few’ and ‘several’ as being the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/25 "2005-12-23T09:37:36Z")
Three or four. Five is five, six half a dozen. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/26 "2005-12-23T10:18:57Z")
‘A few’ would be three, or four at most. ‘Quite a few’ would be 5-9. ‘Several’ would be be about 3-5. (Several is definitely \*not \* seven.) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/27 "2005-12-23T13:12:52Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Five to sex is “several”. Good lord – are we about to see penis ensue? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/28 "2005-12-23T17:19:09Z")
> [@Bites When Provoked](#): > > ‘A few’ would be three, or four at most. ‘Quite a few’ would be 5-9. ‘Several’ would be be about 3-5. > (Several is definitely \*not \* seven.) Naw. “Quite a few” is certainly more than single digits, at least in most contexts I could think of. And I, too, think of “a few” and “several” as synonymous. It just seems odd to me that “a few” would encompass such a narrow range for most English speakers. My original answer was 5, but my complete answer would be 3-7. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/29 "2005-12-23T17:48:19Z")
> [@Roderick Femm](#): > > I don’t know where we got it, but my sister and I used to have a saying as kids: “A few goes up to nine”. By the results of this thread so far, we seem to be in the minority. I’m with you and your sister, **R F**. To me, a few is single digits. I could have a “few bucks” in my wallet, and that might be up to $10 in change. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/30 "2005-12-23T17:57:40Z")
It was drilled into us by an unusually dogmatic grade school teacher that “few” means “three or four”. Five and above is “many” or “several.” Context was not a factor - that was THE LAW. I think her Bible actually contained the Book of Armourments, “…five is _right out!_” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/31 "2005-12-23T17:58:10Z")
At least 3, maybe up to 5, probably not more than 5. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/32 "2005-12-23T17:59:08Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The correct answer is three or four. Did you ever teach grade school? ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/33 "2005-12-23T17:59:35Z")
A couple = 2 or 3 A few = 2 to 5 in most cases ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/34 "2005-12-23T18:07:33Z")
For me it really does depend on the situation. If 5000 people were surveyed, and 4950 of them said they like chocolate, I might say “A few people surveyed do not like chocolate” and so use “few” to mean “50”. But if I say “A few of us are going up to the cottage” I probably mean up to 6. So I’m really just sort of random, I guess! Few means whatever the heck I want it to! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/35 "2005-12-23T20:24:14Z")
I happen to agree that the definition of “a few” differs a bit depending on the circumstances. It often means just “Less than the number I think will get me in trouble.” As when an inebriated husband comes home, his wife asks, “Have you been drinking,” and he says, “Uh… not really. I just had a few beers.” And when a friend asks if you could lend him “a few dollars,” he probably doesn’t mean 3 or 4. He means “As much as you can spare without it SEEMING like a lot of money.” ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/36 "2005-12-23T20:28:00Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Good lord – are we about to see penis ensue? Gah. _Six_. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/37 "2005-12-23T22:44:57Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I happen to agree that the definition of “a few” differs a bit depending on the circumstances. > > It often means just “Less than the number I think will get me in trouble.” As when an inebriated husband comes home, his wife asks, “Have you been drinking,” and he says, “Uh… not really. I just had a few beers.” Which is quite funny really, when the term “he’s had a few”, when referring to drinks, usually means “quite a lot” (however many that may be). I will generally go with 3 - 5, but context is important. It can also mean several thousand, as in “I will fix that leaky pipe in a few minutes, dear”. ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/38 "2005-12-24T16:32:16Z")
> [@NoPretentiousCodename](#): > > In most cases a few is fewer than ten. Like a few jelly beans. I have always been a dogmatic “Few=3 or 4” type guy when asked this question. But now I realize that if I ask for a few peanuts, I mean a handfull and almost certainly not restricted to 3. So I will join the “Context Sensitive” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/39 "2005-12-25T04:39:44Z")
Without context, the values are: Pair = Couple = 2 Few = Several = 3 The day that several = seven is the day that the terrorists have won. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811/40 "2005-12-25T04:43:39Z")
Three, exactly three. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-to-you-is-a-few/336811.md?page=3)