> Growing up in southern PA, everyone I knew
>used "a couple" to mean the same thing as "a
>few." Though it could be used to mean "two," it
>was never associated *only* with that number.
>
> When I moved to Mass, I encountered a strange
>phenomenon. Whenever anyone said "a couple,"
>they meant two. I just wondered if anyone else
>has experienced this.

Growing up in northern New Hampshire, I experienced this a bit. There seemed to be two warring camps when I was growing up. The camp that said "A couple means only two" (to which my mother belonged) and the camp that said "A couple is synonymous with a few". I picked up in school the usage of a couple meaning the same as "a few", and my mother hated it. She told me in no uncertain terms that "a couple" is two, no more, no less. So that's what I believe now.

Also, a common expression I remember hearing was "Gimme a couple-three-four of those" or something similar. Basically meaning "Gimme a few of those" or "Gimme between two and four of those." This was definitely a usage of "couple = two", since why would you have to say "couple-three-four" if "couple" could be taken to mean "two or more"?

-- Dave