Fans debate the ambiguity of Jerry's comment about his parents' savings, questioning whether "a couple" meant two or three hundred thousand dollars, with some remembering Jerry saying "a few" instead.
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Well I think that generally, a couple of items can be two or three.
However I myself, by using the analytical portion of my mind, associate a couple with two of something. When you talk about a couple, as in people who are dating, you're talking about two people. If people ask me for a couple of fries or potato chips, they get two from me. I guess I make a "couple" two instead of three because I'm too much like Costanza.:)
Jim (Who thinks way too much about nothing)
Didnt Jerry say 'more than a couple hundred thousand'?
I think Jerry said, "A few hundred thousand [dollars]..." and George said, "Three hundred thousand? [etc., etc.]" But "few" can sound like "three", can't it?
I noticed this; I guess I'm disturbed too. In fact, I even think (not sure, have to watch it again) that $200,000 has been said, then $300,000 (or the opposite).
In article , [email] wrote:
Actually, Jerry's line was "a _few_ hundred thousand saved up", which George immediately pounced on as "three". It wasn't a couple. I noticed this particularly line because of the translation of "a few" as "three", as opposed to two or four.
A couple *does* mean exactly two. That's the definition of a couple.
You refer to a husband and wife as a "couple". When two things join together, you call it "coupling".
Now I've typed couple so much, it's lost all meaning, but in no way can couple mean anything *but* two.