Learn English – What does ‘a couple of’ mean

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A 'couple' is two of something, typically two people or a matching set of things.

But it seems like there is ambiguity over what 'a couple of' means. Dictionaries often claim that, 'a couple of' means two as in, 'a couple of friends' and using 'a couple of' as in 'a couple of minutes' to mean several minutes is informal.

However, it seems as though 'a couple of' to mean several is far more common in usage than to mean specifically 'two'. To the extent that I struggle to come up with an example of, 'a couple of' that isn't ambiguous out of context. And 'a couple of' to mean precisely two almost never seems to be used in formal or technical writing.

Furthermore, it seems as though, 'I've made a couple of wine and cheese' is a perfectly fine sentence.

I'm thinking that 'a couple of' is potentially an ambiguous amount to the extent that it could mean almost any number. That is, instead of 'a couple of' meaning 'there are two of this thing,' it means, 'there is a coupling of these things,' and potentially the individual parts of those couples could contain an infinite amount.

Meaning 'a couple of minutes' or 'a couple of biscuits' could mean more than two without it being informal English.

I'm curious if there's a historical/logical/grammatical explanation for why 'a couple of' should mean two.

Best Answer

The main meaning and its etymology refer literally to two related persons or things. By extension a couple is used to mean “a few”, so more than two:

Couple:

late 13c., "two of the same kind or class connected or considered together," especially "a man and a woman associated together by marriage or love," from Old French cople "married couple, lovers" (12c., Modern French couple), from Latin copula "tie, connection," from PIE *ko-ap-, from *ko(m)- "together" + *ap- "to take, reach." (Etymonline)

Idiom, a couple of:

more than two, but not many, of; a small number of; a few:

  • It will take a couple of days for the package to get there. A dinner party, whether for a couple of old friends or eight new acquaintances, takes nearly the same amount of effort. (Dictionary.com)
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