Can use this expression "Couple questions" for more than two questions ?

Question

I mean when we mention couple , we make a reference to two stuffs.

But I want to use it in a title to mean more than that. is this correct ?

To illustrate that: is the following title correct ?

Couple questions about your latest articles

What I want to mean by that :

multiple questions about on of your last article

even if it is in the title of an email ? I can start with a and use of ? — IamaTacos, Jul 14 '15 at 00:01
In Biritish English, "a couple of questions" (the "a" and "of" both being obligatory) means "two questions". For a small number of questions greater than two, we'd say "a few questions" or "several questions". — Karasinsky, Jul 14 '15 at 00:05

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 14 '15 at 00:19

2

I believe a couple can be used, from my own experiences, to mean more than exactly two in some social contexts when a certain degree of politeness is desired to be conveyed: saying "Do you have a couple of minutes?" implies you're not asking for too much time from the other person and that you believe your request to be quick. Similarly, telling someone that you have "a couple" of questions signals a desire not to impose on the other person's time, yet still conveying that you have more than one question to ask.

answered Jul 14 '15 at 00:19

atanamir

416

1

Usually in that case it's intentional understatement for the purposes of luring them in. If I asked directly if they 15 minutes, they'd likely wave me off. But If I say just 2 minutes, then they're more likely to acquiesce and it'll be harder to disentangle themselves once in the conversation. – Jim Jul 14 '15 at 00:24
Fair enough. That's probably a better explanation of the underlying reason :) – atanamir Jul 14 '15 at 00:34

Can use this expression "Couple questions" for more than two questions ?

1 Answers1