Re: composite preposition with two opposite meanings

Eric Christopherson wrote:
>
> I forgot about another expression where the presence
> or absence of "the" matters - "in case of" vs. "in the
> case of."  "Wear galoshes in case of rain" means to
> wear galoshes regardless of whether it actually rains
> or not, because it might; whereas "wear galoshes in
> the case of rain" means only to wear them if it does
> in fact rain.
[snip]


Something similar happens with "few." Consider:

    If you put that book on eBay, there'll be few takers.

i.e., I believe no one will be interested.  But

    If you put that book on eBay, there'll be a few takers.

i.e., I believe several people will be interested.

"few" vs. "a few"

--Ph. D.