[Tlhingan-hol] puS

[Brent Kesler]

On Jun 27, 2014 11:02 PM, "Brad Wilson" <bmacliam at aol.com> wrote:
>
> The definition for {puS} in TKD has always bothered me - be few, be
several, be a handful.
> To me a handful is a few, but several is more than that. I wouldn't put
these together in meaning.
> I usually just ignore the "several" entry and use {law'} instead for
several/many.
> How do others reconcile this?
>
> gheyIl

There is a subtle wrinkle in English in the meaning of "few" depending on
whether you use the article "a".

1. There are few Klingons on Earth (ie, not many).
2. There are a few Klingons on Earth (ie, several).

I think that's why {puS} has the conflicting glosses " few" and "several".
It reflects two slightly different shades of "few". I can imagine MO
writing "few" next to {puS}, realizing that's not quite what he had in
mind, and adding "several" to clarify.

bI'reng
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