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I've a query regarding common quantifiers used with count usages. I've searched in various resources such as online dictionaries, but I couldn't find out the fruitful solution. Here is the problem:

  1. Are there any thin-line demarcations between few, a handful of, some, several and many?

In one of the resources, I found the thin lines are defined as follows:

Few: More than a couple [of] but less than five.

a Handful of: Five

Some: More than a handful and less than a dozen

Several: More than a dozen and less than twenty

Many: More than twenty

Could you please confirm or refute this, or add other relevant thoughts.

Edwin Ashworth
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babunp114525
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    "Some" can easily refer to a million people. Even "few" can. Even "very few" can. Even "nobody" can. These words are not defined as precise numbers. When we want precise numbers, we use actual numbers. The meaning of all other words depends on the context you're looking at. What is the context you are looking at? – RegDwigнt Jun 24 '20 at 10:41
  • Please say what this resource was and give a link to it. It sounds highly suspect to me, not ot say inaccurate. Maybe you should find a different source. (Well, I suppose that's why you're here!) – chasly - supports Monica Jun 24 '20 at 11:01
  • There are many reasonably helpful definitions of these terms in dictionaries. Some should be offered (these aren't helpful), together with attributed links. Any remaining problems may then be pointed out. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 24 '20 at 11:28
  • Partly addressed already at What does 'a couple' mean to you, and what does 'a few' mean to you?. 'A few', 'some', 'several' and 'many' are mentioned. Oh, plus 'few' and 'handful'. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 24 '20 at 11:32
  • @EdwinAshworth Thank you for a pointer to the link. The said link is good for reference. It is quite perplexing to me with different opinions from different people. Is there any standard rule for it? – babunp114525 Jun 24 '20 at 11:47
  • The rule is that they are not strict quantitative terms, but their meaning is relative to other terms in context, there is no definitive difference in magnitude between, say "several" and "many" and many of the others follow the same patern. – Jiminy Cricket. Jun 24 '20 at 12:30
  • @Bitterdreggs.Thank you for sharing your valuable inputs to us. Can it be made a standard and be acknowledged by the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and other organizations of the like interest? – babunp114525 Jun 24 '20 at 12:34
  • Are you seriously suggesting that 'Can it be made a standard and be acknowledged by the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and other organizations of the like interest?' is a sensible question? It's not even idiomatic. English is usage-driven (what most native speakers do most of the time), not dictated by Oxbridge, Durham, or some mythical Usage Dictator, and certainly not by contributors to ELU. I'll be glad to delete the comment you feel is out of place when you delete the one that is certainly out of place. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 24 '20 at 18:46

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