Editor's Corner

Only the Lonely

Hey kids! I just got together with some friends, and my buddy Ron handed me a year’s worth of articles from our local “verbivore,” Richard Lederer. I’ve avoided this topic for years, so it’s high time that I provide you with some information from Richard, and then from one of the grammar books I like.

From the Verbivore:

DEAR RICHARD: I am curious about an advertisement on TV that proclaims, “Only pay for what you need” Is that correct, or should it say, “Pay for only what you need.” –Mary Jane Mott, San Carlos

DEAR MARY: The commercial you identify is for Liberty Mutual Insurance and it is aired so frequently and ubiquitously that, to me, it is like water torture. The placement of “only” is one of the trickiest procedures in English usage. The most famous example of its vagaries is the song title “I Only Have Eyes for You.”

Formalists argue that the “only” is mislocated in this title and that the statement misleadingly implies “I have eyes— but no ears, noses, or mouths — for you,” rather than “I have eyes for you only.” They insist that “only” — like “hardly,” “nearly,” “almost,” “scarcely,” “even,” and “just” — must appear right before the word modified, as in “I Have Eyes for Only You.”

In reality, no intelligent listener or reader misinterprets the song line “I only have eyes for you.” In general, though, when equally natural placements of “only” are available, you should locate the adjective or adverb immediately before the noun or verb it modifies. For example, after hearing or reading the sentence “He only died yesterday” you might well ask, “Only died? What could be worse?” Repositioning the “only” to read “He died only yesterday” makes life easier for your listeners and readers.

And now, some bits and pieces about “only” from the Blue Book of Grammar. The passage is a little lengthy, but the examples show you why “only” can be so tricky.

The word only is a modifier that frequently functions as an adverb…or an adjective.

Examples:

1. Only yesterday they said the Dow Jones was going to increase by 11%. (adverb)

2. Joaquin is the only son of Eli and Sarah. (adjective)

As written, these statements tell us:

1. Just yesterday, the Dow Jones was expected to increase by 11%.

2. Eli and Sarah have one son, Joaquin.

Only can have an emphatic effect on a sentence’s targeted meaning, which is why proper placement becomes important. Let’s relocate only in one of our example sentences:

Joaquin is only the son of Eli and Sarah.

Only is now an adverb modifying is instead of an adjective modifying son. This transforms what is being conveyed: We have the same collection of words, but their order now has a context in which something about Joaquin is being limited or minimized.

Here is another example of how “only” can be used in so many ways.

Sentence: I saw Frodo at the store today.

1. Only I saw Frodo at the store today. [I’m the only one in my group that saw Frodo.]
2. I only saw Frodo at the store today. [I saw Frodo, but I didn’t speak to him.]
3. I saw only Frodo at the store today. [I saw Frodo, but I didn’t see any other shoppers or staff.]

<![if !supportLists]>4. <![endif]>I saw Frodo only in the store today. [I saw Frodo at the store, but I didn’t see him anywhere else.]

<![if !supportLists]>5. <![endif]>I saw Frodo in the only store today. [There’s only one store, and that’s where I saw Frodo.]

<![if !supportLists]>6. <![endif]>I saw Frodo in the store only today. [I saw Frodo in the store today, but I didn’t see him there yesterday or any other day.]

As mentioned above, it’s best to keep “only” near the word you are modifying.

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