A few too many

I believe these phrases are universal, as they are widely used in North America, and are found in British dictionaries.

My understanding is the phrases "a few too many", "far too many", and "one too many" mean "more than enough" in various degree, from simply "more than enough", to "a lot more than enough", and to "exceedingly more than enough", respectively. Without qualifying a specific noun, these phrases imply the consumption of alcohol.

A few too many = too many = more than enough (e.g. He had a few too many (drinks), so he is starting to act silly);

Far too many = way too many = a lot more than normal or = a lot more than acceptable. (eg. He has had far too many (drinks), so he shouldn't drive at all);

One too many = one more than the maximum = exceeded the limit (eg. he had one too many (drink) and is now throwing out. He had one too many = he is drunk.


2012-02-17 10:31:51 補充：
I think "one too many" is higher in degree than "a few too many" because it counts from the higher limit, whereas the latter counts from the lower limit.

2012-02-17 10:33:30 補充：
For example, a persaon can start drinking from zero to 10 classes, and the adjective will go from "a few", "many", "a few too many", etc.,

2012-02-17 10:34:53 補充：
and when he reaches his absolute limit of 10, and take the 11th drink, he will have had "one two many", and will be drunk.

2012-02-17 11:02:20 補充：
Correction: "and takes" not "and take".

2012-02-19 02:40:51 補充：
Going back to 001's explanation of the other use of "one too many", to mean "once is too many", or "you shouldn't have any at all", we would see that "a few too many" is still below that "breaking" point.

2012-02-20 09:17:44 補充：
My exit opinion is that "one too many" could mean (1) excessive (2) excessive to the point of passing the absolute limit (3) one is too many (when zero is the limit, as in the case of nuclear explosion), depending on the context.

April 10, 2011 Obama has embraced a few too many Bush policies
http://www.opednews.com/populum/link.php?id=129913
a few too many -> too many by a few -> without those few, it is not too many

2012-02-12 15:54:23 補充：
The question is when did it become too many for Obama. There is no easy answer as the environment in politics and probably in economics is ever-changing.
In contrast, it is easier to say "far too many" in a definite way.

2012-02-15 04:14:40 補充：
I think answer 002 is the best one.
However, I cannot understand why "one two many" is higher in degree than "a few too many".

2012-02-18 11:05:08 補充：
From dictionaries, I gather that "one too many" means excessive and in drinking it implies drunkenness.
However, "a few too many" also means excessive. Why is it that "one(too many)" is more/higher in degree than " a few (too Many)"?

2012-02-18 11:10:54 補充：
If we are talking about "have a few" which means "to drink quite a large number of (or too many) alcoholic drinks", I can agree to that "have one too many" is higher in degree than "have a few".

2012-02-19 19:30:43 補充：
In fact I don't quite agree with that explanation.
In "Obama has embraced a few too many Bush's policies", it does not mean that Obama should not copy Bush's policies and that a few is already too many.
Similarly, one too many does not seem to mean one is already too many.

2012-02-28 09:43:08 補充：
"Bombing Hiroshima and the innocent civilians there with an atomic bomb was one time too many." tells that although only one single bomb was dropped, it is absolute cruelty to fellow human lives and should absolutely not have happened in history.

2012-02-28 09:44:01 補充：
It does not seem to give "one too many" the generalised meaning of "one is too many".

其實a few too many的意思是指太多或過量，如：

She kissed a few too many friends at the party.

但在英美地方，這更常指喝了過量的酒（即廣東話：飲大咗），如：

I kept her car key because she had a few too many.


a few too many其實很普遍

希望幫到你！

far too many : 太多，過多
few too many : 少少嫌多

In the recent Los Angels Time, one headline said, "Obama has embraced few too many Bush's policies". Of course, Obama do not normally follow Bush's policy, only a few, but already too much to the writer.

2012-02-10 06:47:13 補充：
In the article, the author was very unhappy that Obama kept the Guantanamo Camp (terrorists are kept) open which he promised to close when he was running for president. He sneered Obama following Bush's policy too much but he cannot use far too many here because Obama followed only a few.

2012-02-10 06:49:00 補充：
continued.
In this case, few too many comes in handy. It still means too much, but literally it means few (but already) too many.

Very impressed by your critical thoughts and try to find the meaning.I don't have all the answers to match your questions; still this is an expressive term, meaning it is not a "logical"/"literal" understanding of the works in the phrase.

I'm not sure how you understand this phrase as you compared it with "far too many". This phrase does not have the same meaning as "there are many (enough) already". "A few too many" is used to to express the having "many" is bad, meaning "a few" is already too much/many.

Ther is another even decisive phrease " One time too many", meaning even happening/happened once is too serious and bad that it should not be allowed to occur. e.g. Nuclear power plant incidents(explosion/melt down) is one time to many.

由於你用英文問，以上用英文答。如果以中文理解a few too many / one time too many意思是「少少都嫌多」/「一次也嫌多」即是說「少少或一次也不應該」：例如談論一個人的誠信或人格的角度來說講大話是一次/少少也是錯的。Lying is a few too many.

far too many或far too xxx的意思是已經泛濫(太多了)，雖然英文字都是相似，但跟這個xxx too many的意思並不相同。

希望幫助你認識到英語的微妙之處。