If you ask someone for “multiple” of something their almost always going to give you three of that thing (or nothing). In that context multiple is just three and as @CatsGoMOW@lemmy.world pointed out, if I use triple I could as well keep going with higher numbers (quadrupole etc)
Comment on We should count in base four
DavidGA@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Why not use “triple” for three, which actually does mean three.
Hjalamanger@feddit.nu 5 months ago
RainfallSonata@lemmy.world 5 months ago
If someone asks me for “a few” I’ll give them three or four. If someone asks for “multiple” I’ll give them a handful and ask if that’s enough.
I don’t know where in the world this theory is coming from, but here, two would be “a couple” and three+ would be “a few.” Not that “a pair” (never just pair) and multiple aren’t used in other contexts, but you wouldn’t use pair and multiple in the same context. A pair is specific, multiple is an estimate.
Hjalamanger@feddit.nu 5 months ago
It’s just me thinking of what I ordered people near me would do. But I’m not a native English speaker so my feel for the language might be wrong; I’m from Sweden (and my mother tongue is Swedish).
person@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Maybe it’s just me: had to double back on that literal use of “where in the world”.
RainfallSonata@lemmy.world 5 months ago
😉
Plopp@lemmy.world 5 months ago
If you ask someone for “multiple” of something their almost always going to give you three of that thing (or nothing).
Huh? I’ve lived a long time and that’s not something that feels familiar to me. On the other hand I do have multiple dollars in my bank account and that equation checks out.
Hjalamanger@feddit.nu 5 months ago
I’m not a native English speaker so you (and everyone else here) are probably right. I thought it meant the same thing as the Swedish word “flera” whilst the proper translation seems to be “ett flertal”
Plopp@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I think it differs. To me, “flera” is like 3-5 maybe? Perhaps 4-10 in some cases. And I sometimes hear people use “par” to mean 3, probably short for “ett par tre stycken”, so a poorly defined 2-3 that sometimes is 3.
My_friend_Johnny@lemmy.world 5 months ago
The victim was shot multiple times. I don’t see this as 3. I’d see this as 5 or 6 times
Hjalamanger@feddit.nu 5 months ago
Yeah, your probably right; my English ain’t perfect. A few would probably have been better to use as @RainfallSonata@lemmy.world pointed out
CatsGoMOW@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Because we also have words like quadruple, quintuple, etc which would break his theory. lol
hddsx@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
How about treble?