Lingusitics "In a couple of weeks' time"

[Swamp Thing]

Comparing "in a couple of weeks" and "in a couple of weeks' time", are there situations where one or the other would be slightly more suitable by way of more nuanced meaning?

 

[phinds]

Comparing "in a couple of weeks" and "in a couple of weeks' time", are there situations where one or the other would be slightly more suitable by way of more nuanced meaning?

Sure. You would use "a couple of weeks time" when you wanted to distinguish it from "a couple of weeks length", or "a couple of weeks height".

Sorry. I couldn't help myself, having long been astounded at the inanity of saying "at this point in time" as opposed to "at this time" or, even better, just "now" and saying "in a <period>'s time" instead of " in a <period>", whether period is minutes, hours, days, weeks, decades, or whatever.

We got this from the British, who, apparently, have difficulty distinguishing between temporal measurements and spatial measurements and need to be specific in order to not confuse their audiences.

 

[Klystron]

Comparing "in a couple of weeks" and "in a couple of weeks' time", are there situations where one or the other would be slightly more suitable by way of more nuanced meaning?

Yes, when the author seeks specificity over brevity. Also, repeating temporal terms -- weeks and time -- emphasizes future as modern English lacks a specific future tense.

"The lake will evaporate in a few weeks."

"The water in the lake will evaporate in a few weeks' time."

 

[berkeman]

"in a couple of weeks' time"

Fixed that for you. I've never seen "of" in that type of phrase. Like this:

"The water in the lake will evaporate in a few weeks' time."