few countries had a worst time of it

[güey]

Could you tell me please if few emphasizes that only a small number of contries had a worst time of it? (And also, he seems to say "a worst time". Is the indefinite article correct in this expression?)

The invasion of Poland kicked off World War II, and few countries had a worst time of it. Poland was split between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, and the Soviets set about slaughtering poles, and the Nazis set about slaughtering poles - around 2 million of them - and Hitler ended up shoving the Soviets out of Poland in Operation Barbarossa.

 

[SoothingDave]

It should be "a worse time." Are you sure you heard right?

Logically, only one country can have the worst time.

 

[emsr2d2]

@güey Please give us the timestamp (minutes/seconds) where those sentences occur in the video. That way, we can listen to it too and see if we think they say "worst" or "worse".

 

[Amigos4]

Poland was split between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, and the Soviets set about slaughtering poles Poles, and the Nazis set about slaughtering poles Poles - around 2 million of them - and Hitler ended up shoving the Soviets out of Poland in Operation Barbarossa.

*

 

[Amigos4]

Please give us the timestamp (minutes/seconds) where those sentences occur in the video.

@emsr2d2 - The segment begins @ 5:14.

 

[güey]

Are you sure you heard right?

No. Is there a way to distinguish worst time and worse time in speech?

Logically, only one country can have the worst time.

And even if it's "worse time", is the usage of "few" and not "a few" or "some" appropriate?

@güey Please give us the timestamp (minutes/seconds) where those sentences occur in the video. That way, we can listen to it too and see if we think they say "worst" or "worse".

I did provide a link to the precise timestamp, but forgot to indicate that in my post, sorry.

*

I copied from the subtitles and didn't check capitalization.

 

[5jj]

No. Is there a way to distinguish worst time and worse time in speech?

Not for most people.

And even if it's "worse time", is the usage of "few" and not "a few" or "some" appropriate?

No.

 

[Skrej]

The speaker says "few countries had a worse time of it", which is correct. It's just that the beginning /t'/ sound of 'time' blends a bit with the ending /s/ sound of 'worse'.

However, his accent and speed does trick the auto-generated closed captioning, which does read "a worst time".

You are correct in that 'few' emphasizes that were potentially only a couple of other countries who may have had a more difficult experience.

edit: fixed typo with has vs had

 

[emsr2d2]

The speaker says "few countries has a worse time of it", which is correct.

@Skrej Should that say "had"?

 

[güey]

May I ask another question regarding the clip? Does he at 03:58 (in bold) say 1701 saw a ruinous Swedish invasion?

 

[Amigos4]

May I ask another question regarding the clip? Does he at 03:58 (in bold) say 1701 saw a ruinous Swedish invasion?

Yes!
The CC at 03:58 is incorrect. In fact, there are many errors throughout the auto-generated CC application.

 

[güey]

Yes!
The CC at 03:58 is incorrect. In fact, there are many errors throughout the auto-generated CC application.

Indeed, I noticed some more mistakes in the subtitles there too.

 

[SoothingDave]

And even if it's "worse time", is the usage of "few" and not "a few" or "some" appropriate?

Yes.

 

[Skrej]

@Skrej Should that say "had"?

Yes, that was just a typo on my part - thanks for catching it. I've fixed my post.