It was quite a few years ago—more that several—but I still remember my friend's words: "I only had several dollars."

That use of "several" struck me as odd,  paired as it was with "only." The two don't seem to go together, because to my ear "several" carries a positive charge, a slight emphasis on the "more than" quality of the word, while "only" feels the opposite.

It would sound okay to say "I only had a few dollars," or "I wasn't broke; I still had several dollars." In both cases, things match—"only—a few" and "wasn't broke—several dollars." But mixing the "only" and "several" is a little like putting the same poles of two magnets together—there's something in their nature that pushes them apart.

On the other hand—and there's almost always another hand—I recently came across this wording: "...four species represented by no more than several individuals." 

So, was the writer wrong? Careless? Insensitive? Not likely. The phrase comes from a book by E. O. Wilson, one of the most-intellegent and cogent writers I've ever read. Which leads to another possibility—that not all smart, literate people consider "several" to have a positive charge.

Which answer is right? I don't know, but am pretty sure that it's the second one—different people, different opinions. Probably several different opinions.

 

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