I stopped making assumptions about what terms people see as abstract and which they see as concrete when I found out not everyone understands a few as three.
If I send you to the shop for a few beers, you've got to return with a concrete number. Maybe 4 cans, because that's how they're sold, or maybe 3 bottles because there was a 3 for £5 deal. Or maybe you come back with a whole case because it caught your eye, and I say Woah hey you got several!
I daresay the statistics still favour one side or the other though for most words, even if it's not a whitewash (I also view yesteryear as an abstract time in the past, for instance).
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I stopped making assumptions about what terms people see as abstract and which they see as concrete when I found out not everyone understands a few as three.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/couple-few-several-u...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37722244
Not exactly three though, just not less.
If I send you to the shop for a few beers, you've got to return with a concrete number. Maybe 4 cans, because that's how they're sold, or maybe 3 bottles because there was a 3 for £5 deal. Or maybe you come back with a whole case because it caught your eye, and I say Woah hey you got several!
I daresay the statistics still favour one side or the other though for most words, even if it's not a whitewash (I also view yesteryear as an abstract time in the past, for instance).