To ask how literally you take these statements?

[KneadingKitty]

If someone said to you "can you make a couple of copies of this please?" how many copies would you make?

If someone sent you an email and marked it as "urgent", what does urgent mean to you? How long would you think was acceptable to reply?

First thought of the top of your head rather than properly thinking it!

2
Straight away

Two, and straight away.

@pigsDOfly

How can a 'couple' equal 5. A couple is 2.

When a 'couple' get married it's 2 people getting married there doesn't tend to be another 3 people hanging around.

🤣

3 or 4 copies

'Urgent' - I'd check the contents before deciding, because sometimes that's bullshit, but if it really is urgent I'd reply immediately, even if only to say 'I'm working on a response' if appropriate.

1. I'd ask how many they want, and if I didn't get an answer I'd do what they asked for plus one for luck, so 3.

1. If I didn't already have anything else to do that was also urgent, I'd do it straight away. Otherwise I'd ask which of the urgent tasks takes priority over the other.

2 copies
And as soon as possible. Like, do it today.

Couple of copies =2 plus the original.
Urgent =immediately
Unless of course you work for our local gp/NHS Trust where an urgent referral for skin cancer means you might be seen in 18 months, if you're lucky

@pigsDOfly because there is a difference between the relationship sense of couple and the common usage for a few. The words are ill-defined but IME, a couple = 2-5. A handful being 5+. If a couple always meant 2 then why do people use the longer word with twice the number of syllables?

How many drinkers who had a couple in a pub will have only had 2?

With urgent, IME it doesn't equal immediate. Immediate = CPR, urgent equals bloods taken quickly rather than when the routine appointment would be to help diagnosis. No one should cease an immediate operation to prioritise urgent activity, IMO. Language is ambiguous and changes with usage though. Except with 'beg the question'. I'm not a purist and infinitives should be split on principle because of the reason why they shouldn't.

Couple of copies =2, but I would make 3 to cover underestimation from the requester.
Urgent = ASAP. I'd review all tasks and see how to prioritise it on the day.

^This thread has amply demonstrated that there is no concensus on either of these terms.%

There is a consensus that a couple means 2. Count the proportion of people who have said so. I haven't counted, but it's definitely a lot more than half, and could well be more than 80% or even more than 90%. (Add my vote to the list of those saying it means two.)

Couple of copies I would do 4 or 5 for good measure but then that's how paper gets wasted.

In my workplace it would be considered acceptable to respond to an urgent request with 'when do you need it by' - unless it's completely obvious. We have a senior team who like to play 'look how busy I am' and so have a tendency to call everything urgent so we often ask for clarification. Just this week I had an 'urgent' request for a slide deck that someone needs in April - no pre meet, no reviewing needed - it's just a few slides presenting some data.

2 is a couple
3-5 is a few
6 is half a Dozen
Urgent is now

I'd probably do 3 copies.

Depending on the type of email anywhere from 2 - 24 hours. Definitely by the end of the next working day.

Lack of preparation on your part does not create a priority on my part

that is why if I mark an email urgent, I'm pleased if I get reply within 3 days. I can't know the other demands on recipients' time. If you told me urgent I'd try very hard to deal with it in next hour, else by COP.

Couple = 2.

Few is completely meaningless word; I'd always ask about that, what they actually want.

So a couple of copies mean a few more, five seems appropriate.

If they asked for a dozen , that would be 17 or 18 then ?

Two copies, in addition to the original.

Email marked Urgent - as soon as I could. If there was a reason why I didn’t have the information/answer being asked for in the email then I would send a response saying that I had received the email and indicating when I would have the full reply done.

A couple is 2 but lots of people use it incorrectly to mean a few so I would ask for clarification.

I would check an email marked urgent immediately and act depending on whether it was something that needed doing straight away or just ASAP ie other tasks might still take priority. It could mean either.

Couple is two
Urgent ..I'd do it as soon as possible...right away but def within the next hour or two

@WorraLiberty

When you toast the happy couple at a wedding, you're not toasting 5 people

The words are ill-defined but IME, a couple = 2-5. A handful being 5+. If a couple always meant 2 then why do people use the longer word with twice the number of syllables?

The word "couple" literally has the definition of "two" though ... the fact that some people use it to mean "any single digit number" does not mean that someone is wrong to only make 2 copies when asked to make "a couple".

The fact that some people seem to think "couple" is interchangeable with few/some/handful etc is where the confusion comes from because they are misusing a word for a definite number (two) to mean a more vague general number that does not have to mean 2.

@melj1213 I agree there are two definitions and the OP shouldn't have been criticised for making two and for interchanging urgent and immediate if that is what she did. I don't agree taking couple to be an indeterminate number is mis-use, just an appropriate alternative use for few.

A couple means 4.

Urgent means do straightaway and try to have answer within an hour or two. I may need to research the answer.

‘’Urgent’: I would decide whether I agreed it was urgent, relative to other business, based on the information provided.

2 copies - if they had a number in mind they should have said so you're not a mind reader!

Urgent email - respond Immediately unless there were more urgent tasks that I knew took priority. Also depends on who you know ALWAYS sends "urgent" emails that aren't really though (inflated sense of self importance)

Lack of preparation on your part does not create a priority on my part

Yep

Military version - "your fuck up ain't my emergency!"

A couple means two but I don't think it gets used that way all the time.

I'd probably make 3 or 4 just to be on the safe side, in case the person was not using it literally, unless they actually said "make 2".

Urgent - within a day at most I would have said, more likely within 2-4 hours.