a couple of dollars

[optimistic pessimist]

Hi all,

In the sentence below,

does "just a couple of dollars" mean exactly two dollars? Or could it possibly be one or two dollars?​

"...The boy worked in a diamond mine for six months. However, he had success only once and recieved just a couple of dollars."

I thought until recently that "a couple of" referred to a little vague range, not just exactly two. However, I've been confused since I saw an American

woman who said "a couple of" means two.

OP

 

[Raymott]

"A couple of" does mean two, but it's often used for several, a few. To me, it means two, three, or maybe four.
In this case, "a couple of dollars" could refer to $2.47, i.e. it doesn't have to be a round number.
Similarly, 2.31 litres of milk could be a couple of litres. 26 eggs could be a couple of dozen eggs.

 

[jutfrank]

I doubt that he would have received exactly two dollars.

(Not a diamond miner)

 

[jutfrank]

I thought until recently that "a couple of" referred to a little vague range, not just exactly two. However, I've been confused since I saw an American woman who said "a couple of" means two.

Remember that meaning comes from context.

We very frequently use quantity words (such as numbers) to approximate. When I say I earn a thousand dollars a month, I mean $1050. When I say It cost me eighty quid, I mean £76.99.

So sometimes, a couple means 'exactly two' and sometimes not.

 

[Tdol]

However, I've been confused since I saw an American woman who said "a couple of" means two.

It does in some contexts- a married couple, for instance, but a couple of drinks can often mean more than two.

 

[bubbha]

In general, "a couple of dollars" is an inexact phrase meaning "around two dollars". But it depends on context and even the user.

I have encountered people who use "a couple of" to mean "exactly two". One guy was ordering food at a restaurant, and asked for "a couple of pies", and the server had to verify "Two pies?" Ordering food is not a place where one would expect a vague order.

 

[emsr2d2]

"...The boy worked in a diamond mine for six months. However, he had success only once and recieved just a couple of dollars."

Don't forget the rule (with stacks of exceptions) "i before e except after c".

(When I say there are stacks of exceptions, I mean it. Have a look here.)

 

[jutfrank]

Don't forget the rule (with stacks of exceptions) "i before e except after c".

I couldn't resist reiterating what Piscean has already pointed out—there aren't stacks of exceptions (in fact I'm not aware of any at all). The original rule applies only to the sound /i:/, otherwise it's pretty useless.

(If there are exceptions, I would guess they would be recently adopted loanwords.)

 

[Raymott]

"Unless the 'c' is part of a 'sh' sound as in 'glacier'
Or it appears in comparatives and superlatives like 'fancier'

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/i-before-e-except-after-c

Also, in the name 'Reid', which is the only other one that I can think of.

PS: I don't say 'glashier'.

 

[jutfrank]

Also, in the name 'Reid', which is the only other one that I can think of.

Names would be a good place to start looking for exceptions. Keith. (But I'd say they don't really count.)

PS: I don't say 'glashier' either. And that's a diphthong, not the monophthong /i:/.

 

[GoesStation]

Weird.

 

[jutfrank]

Weird.

Diphthong. Doesn't count.

 

[GoesStation]

Diphthong. Doesn't count.

I'm never sure whether a vowel before an R is a diphthong or not because, in American English, the R colors the preceding vowel. I pronounce the vowel in feared the same as the vowel in weird; would you consider it a diphthong in that word as well?

 

[jutfrank]

I'm never sure whether a vowel before an R is a diphthong or not because, in American English, the R colors the preceding vowel. I pronounce the vowel in feared the same as the vowel in weird; would you consider it a diphthong in that word as well?

I don't follow how the R colors the vowel for you. Yes, weird and feared rhyme for me, both having the same diphthong.

 

[GoesStation]

I don't follow how the R colors the vowel for you. Yes, weird and feared rhyme for me, both having the same diphthong.

The vowel feels the same as the one in weed and feed until the base of my tongue rises to begin the /r/ sound. I don't think it's possible, in my accent, to pronounce a monophthong /i/ followed by an r.

 

[jutfrank]

The vowel feels the same as the one in weed and feed until the base of my tongue rises to begin the /r/ sound. I don't think it's possible, in my accent, to pronounce a monophthong /i/ followed by an r.

Right, I get you. Whether or not one pronounces the /r/, the vowel is still a diphthong. Try saying it in a non-rhotic British way and see if you can hear how weird differs from weed.

 

[GoesStation]

Right, I get you. Whether or not one pronounces the /r/, the vowel is still a diphthong. Try saying it in a non-rhotic British way and see if you can hear how weird differs from weed.

But what I hear then is an /i/ followed by a non-rhotic r, if that isn't an oxymoron; that is, the non-rhotic r is a sliding vowel.

 

[GoesStation]

I was mentally listening to an American non-rhotic accent, which I can reproduce much more naturally than a British one. In this accent the vowel glides from the sea vowel to the schwa in the. John F. Kennedy spoke with one such accent.

 

[jutfrank]

I was mentally listening to an American non-rhotic accent, which I can reproduce much more naturally than a British one. In this accent the vowel glides from the sea vowel to the schwa in the. John F. Kennedy spoke with one such accent.

Yes, it's this glide that makes it a diphthong. A diphthong is essentially a glide from one monophthong to another.