Dear Word Detective: Decades back, at a college Quiz
Competition, the question was “How many is few?” No one got it
right, so the Quizmaster informed us that originally, from Old
English, the word actually meant “eight.” I have never been able
to verify that, and have always wondered since. Maybe you can
help? — AJ. Hmm. Decades back, eh? Chances are that this guy’s
trail is pretty cold, but if you’d be willing to underwrite a
certain private detective I know, we might be able to nail this
clown with a banana cream pie in the kisser within two weeks,
tops. “Quizmaster” my foot. I’ll bet he got his gavel and gown
from one of those mail-order know-it-all outfits. As you
probably have gathered, your Quizmaster must have matriculated
in a parallel universe, because “few” never meant “eight,”
“nine,” “fourteen” or “five billion,” not even in Old English,
where all the truly wacko word origin stories seem to be born.
Incidentally, if you ever do catch up with that guy, ask him why
there aren’t any boats in that sto