Posted by Miri Barak on March 19, 2004
In Reply to: Re: A handful posted by R. Berg on March 19, 2004
: : context:
: : "But just as they start to dig in, the party is crashed by a pack of Troodons. Smaller and smarter than Pod, these predators are *a handful*".
: : Yes, another kind of dinosaurs.
: : My question: a handful has two meanings: a few and wild, uncontrollable. According to this sentence, which meaning do you think right? Because there is some kind of contrast in this sentence which doesn't suit the first meaning of few, but I might be wrong, of course.
: : And thank you of course.
: The second meaning is closer. The invading dinosaurs are "a handful" FOR POD. That is, Pod has difficulty dealing with them. "Handful" in this sense always appears in the context of someone (this time it's Pod) facing the challenge of coping with something troublesome.
Thank you Berg - you are fast and helpful as ever.