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wcsungod · 12-23-2011, 02:42 AM

I took a Linguistics course a couple years ago ("The Nature of Language") and during a discussion of how the English language is constantly changing, the question of "couple" versus "couple of" came up. The opinion of most of the students was solidly on the side of "couple" though several older students said it should always be "couple of". The instructor said this was an example of a language change, and that we were able to watch it as it's happening.

I use "couple" most of the time when I'm writing fiction, and it's my editor's opinion that "couple" and "couple of" are interchangeable and that either is correct; he prefers "couple".

12-23-2011, 02:42 AM	#54
wcsungod Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Walnut Creek, California Device: Kindle Fire	I took a Linguistics course a couple years ago ("The Nature of Language") and during a discussion of how the English language is constantly changing, the question of "couple" versus "couple of" came up. The opinion of most of the students was solidly on the side of "couple" though several older students said it should always be "couple of". The instructor said this was an example of a language change, and that we were able to watch it as it's happening. I use "couple" most of the time when I'm writing fiction, and it's my editor's opinion that "couple" and "couple of" are interchangeable and that either is correct; he prefers "couple". Last edited by wcsungod; 12-23-2011 at 02:45 AM.