1070: Words for Small Sets

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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This is comic number 1070. It was posted on June 18, 2012.

words for small sets.png

Image text: If things are too quiet, try asking a couple of friends whether "a couple" should always mean "two". As with the question of how many spaces should go after a period, it can turn acrimonious surprisingly fast unless all three of them agree.

I know exactly what Randall is attempting to do here. This is nerd troll bait. He is attempting to "troll" or get a certain group of people fired up by taking an unpopular side of the argument just to get the other person angry. And I'm taking the bait.

I disagree on "A Handful" and "Several". A Handful should be about 4 to 7 and several should be 6 to 8, averaging about 7, which sounds just like several. The other two are within the range that makes sense to me. Also, check out how he sneaks "a couple of friends" and "all three of them" into the image text very sneakily.