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How many is a few?

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shysal Thu 16-Apr-15 17:08:05

Somebody told me today that a relative was staying with her for a few days. I thought this meant about 3 days, but she says a few is about 7! I would have called that several! The dictionary says a few is not many, a good few is several, and several is a few!!!! confused
What would you say?

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gillybob Fri 17-Apr-15 11:40:02

How many is a good few ?

and could you have a bad few or a little few?
confused

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Ana Fri 17-Apr-15 11:49:18

And what about 'too few'?

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Ana Fri 17-Apr-15 11:49:50

How many is too few to mention? grin

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gillybob Fri 17-Apr-15 11:58:52

Probably none I would guess Ana grin

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PRINTMISS Fri 17-Apr-15 15:25:46

Phew!

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Thintaged Mon 13-Jul-26 03:24:28

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

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Grammaretto Mon 13-Jul-26 03:36:32

This thread is 11 years old. Is this a record? 😅

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Padstow13 Mon 13-Jul-26 04:31:00

Three - and five is the limit.

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Allsorts Mon 13-Jul-26 04:59:45

A few days to me would mean about 3, a few chips about 7/8, few people attending an event about 20.

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keepcalmandcavachon Mon 13-Jul-26 08:08:07

Possibly your friend had initially invited her relative for a few days and now they were staying longer. She'd probably have said a week if that had been the upfront plan.

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keepcalmandcavachon Mon 13-Jul-26 08:09:46

Grammaretto

This thread is 11 years old. Is this a record? 😅

Wow, wonder if Aunt Aggie has gone home yet? grin

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Oldnproud Mon 13-Jul-26 08:34:28

Yes, this thread was started a good few years ago 😃

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NotAGran55 Mon 13-Jul-26 08:43:50

REPORTED SPAM Thintaged

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AuntieE Fri 17-Jul-26 14:47:14

I was told as a small child that "a few" meant some number more than three, and that how many more depended very much on what we were talking about. "Several" likewise denoted an indefinite number of people or things, but certainly more than we would describe as "a few".

I think context defines how many either word actually covers.

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Oldnproud Fri 17-Jul-26 15:38:15

AuntieE

I was told as a small child that "a few" meant some number more than three, and that how many more depended very much on what we were talking about. "Several" likewise denoted an indefinite number of people or things, but certainly more than we would describe as "a few".

I think context defines how many either word actually covers.

Everything that you have written above fits with my own interpretation of those two words.

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Pimmi Fri 17-Jul-26 21:06:07

A few is probably less than you think

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