coupling

The phrase a couple of, meaning “a small number of; a few; several,” has been in standard use for centuries, especially with measurements of time and distance and in referring to amounts of money:  They walked a couple of miles in silence.   Repairs will probably cost a couple of hundred dollars.  The phrase is used in all but the most formal speech and writing. The shortened phrase a couple, without of (The gas station is a couple miles from here), is an Americanism of recent development that occurs chiefly in informal speech or representations of speech, especially when followed by number terms (as a couple dozen eggs) or units of measurement (as a couple years ago; a couple gallons of gas). This use of couple (as an adjective or modifier) is still disliked by many. Without a following noun, a couple is even more informal:  Jack shouldn't drive. It's clear he's had a couple.  (Here the noun drinks is omitted.)  In referring to two people, couple, like many collective nouns, may take either a singular or a plural verb. Most commonly, it is construed as a plural:  The couple were traveling to Texas.  See also collective noun.