they were a couple vs they was a couple

Some examples from the web:

• But they were a couple of ex-cons playing dress-up and shaking down old people.
• Everyone knew that they were a couple, that they were together.
• No, I mean the guy that wishes they were a couple.
• And if they were a couple, they'd be twice as great.
• If they were a couple, they'd never work.
• You know, Rachel and Nora got fired because somebody in management found out that they were a couple, and, look, she just wants to understand how that happened.
• Madame, what is certain is that they were a couple who were devoted to each other and lived together happily.
• Because they think you're a freshman at N.Y.U., Because they were a couple and because you were feeling used.
• They were a couple - husband and wife, I guess.
• So they were a couple?
• Doc said they were a couple of prospectors.
• Apparently they were a couple of rogue CIA agents.
• I was Zeus and they were a couple of Aphrodites.
• In Boston, they were a couple of micks.
• As a stranger passed, he glanced at them as he went by, probably thinking they were a couple.
• Last I checked, they were a couple bucks a pop.
• and kissed him... like they were a couple.
• Ask me how I know they were a couple,
• Now I have seen lots of new stanhopia growths, but I have always missed the start of flower spikes, and only noticed them after they were a couple inches long.
• When I asked my lawyer about these two jurors, he looked up their questionnaires and saw that they were a couple who were moderately for the death penalty.

Some examples from the web:

• Feb 23, 2015 ... “And I guess they was a couple miles away from the hotel and they said they seen me walking down the street. They pulled up on me and ...
• So what if they was a couple of teddy bears and my mic was a brush. Yo I'm still the same girl that was riding the bus. Rapping along to the song straight verse to  ...
• Feb 23, 2015 ... "And I guess they was a couple miles away from the hotel and they said they seen me walking down the street and they pulled up on me and ...
• Jul 27, 2009 ... Please try again later. Uploaded on Jul 27, 2009. I always wondered if they was a couple out there like that. But just with the last name.