call v. say

[hhtt21]

-"May I ask how long he has been here?”

- “Call it a couple of weeks.

This dialog is from the book Most Wanted Man by John Le Carre. I have learnt one of the uses of "call" now. But something makes me think that
the author could prefer "Say it a couple of weeks". Would it be identical with the original for this case?

Thank you.

 

[GoesStation]

No. Le Carré could have written "You could say it's been a couple of weeks" with no difference in meaning.

 

[hhtt21]

No. Le Carré could have written "You could say it's been a couple of weeks" with no difference in meaning.

Can we think of "say" and "call" as synonymous for this case?

Thank you.

 

[GoesStation]

They aren't interchangeable, but the phrasal verb "call it" and the idiom "you could say it is" are near synonyms.

 

[emsr2d2]

How many balls are in that basket?
I don't know. Let's call it forty.

How many balls are in that basket?
I don't know. Let's say forty.

In that exchange, the phrases "Let's call it" and "Let's say" are interchangeable but that doesn't mean that "call" and "say" are interchangeable in other contexts.