Not exactly three though, just not less.

If I send you to the shop for a few beers, you've got to return with a concrete number. Maybe 4 cans, because that's how they're sold, or maybe 3 bottles because there was a 3 for £5 deal. Or maybe you come back with a whole case because it caught your eye, and I say Woah hey you got several!

I daresay the statistics still favour one side or the other though for most words, even if it's not a whitewash (I also view yesteryear as an abstract time in the past, for instance).