<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">I think these English words are less vague than they are evasive of their accuracy.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The term “a couple” is two. It doesn’t sound as precise as two, but it really is two.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">“several” is three or four. Two is already covered by "a couple", and and five is covered by “a handful”.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">“half a dozen” is six.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">So, I read {puS} as “3-5”.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">But it bothers me that it says “be few” instead of saying “be a few”.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">To me “be few” just feels very, very different.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">“I have a few apples” is just a statement about having three or four, or less commonly five apples.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">But “I have few apples” loads the statement with a disappointed expectation. One might expect me to have a bunch of apples, but nope. I don’t. I have few.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If you expected me to say that I was out of apples, “I have a few apples” could reassure you that I’m not out yet, but “I have few apples” feels more like a warning that if you want one, you better act fast. It just emphasizes what it is NOT. It is NOT a LOT. “Being a few” doesn’t carry that subjective baggage, and the rest of the gloss feels more like “be a few” than it feels like “be few”.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Of course, this is just my subjective opinion.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">In other words, does {puS} = {law’be’} or {law’Ha’}?</div><br class=""><div class="">
<div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div>charghwI’ ‘utlh<br class="">(ghaH, ghaH, -Daj)</div></div>
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<div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On May 24, 2021, at 8:51 PM, Melanie Roney <<a href="mailto:nahqun@gmail.com" class="">nahqun@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="auto" class=""><div class="">Aren't "be few" and "be several" opposites? <br class=""><br class=""><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" class="">~Melanie Roney<br class="">Sent from my Palm Prē</div><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, May 22, 2021, 11:00 Klingon Word of the Day <<a href="mailto:kwotd@wizage.net" class="">kwotd@wizage.net</a>> wrote:<br class=""></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Klingon Word of the Day for Saturday, May 22, 2021<br class="">
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Klingon word: puS<br class="">
Part of speech: verb<br class="">
Definition: be few, be several, be a handful<br class="">
Source: TKD<br class="">
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This Klingon Word of the Day is brought to you by qurgh (<a href="mailto:qurgh@kli.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" class="">qurgh@kli.org</a>).<br class="">
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