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What is meaning of the phrase "to name a few" in below sentence:

Our clients include Commonwealth Bank, Lexus, Tourism Australia to name a few

I rarely see this phrase, so I think there's an alternative for its meaning. Could some one can show me one?

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Probably, since they already said include, they could omit to name a few and still keep the same meaning. – GEdgar Apr 5 '12 at 14:54
GEdgar: grammatically yes, but the point is that they have many more (and so you should be impressed), whereas a weasel-run company would use the phrase even if they had only three customers. (I find to name a few a good indicator of weasels, but that's another question.) – TimLymington Apr 5 '12 at 22:18

closed as general reference by FumbleFingers, RegDwighт♦ Apr 8 '12 at 13:00

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3 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Another possibility here would be among others:

Our clients include Commonwealth Bank, Lexus, and Tourism Australia, among others.

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Thanks Nate. That's what I'm looking for. – bnguyen82 Apr 6 '12 at 3:04
up vote 6 down vote

The expression "to name a few" is used when there are lot of things to list. But you are prefer best of one or the one you like to list. Because there are so many choices available.

Another meaning is "There are more examples also."

Ex.The dealsforyou website has so many products like clothes, electronics, food, vegetables, just to name a few.

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Is there a substitution for the phrase it that sentences? – bnguyen82 Apr 5 '12 at 6:16
We can use "to verify" as a substitution for phrase it that sentences. – Rahul Apr 20 '12 at 6:05
up vote 1 down vote

It means pretty well the same as "for example".

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