A Correct “Only”

Usually I post about mistakes, but the mistake of putting “only” in the wrong place is so common, I’m posting an example of it being used correctly! In the only speech in the comic:

People often say “…only covers your parking.” Wrong!

Always put “only” directly in front of the word it refers to, not at the beginning of the whole clause!

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Okay, a serious post today; no comic. Here’s a quote fro the July/August Scientific American, page 59. It’s from an article about quantum mechanics:

…In this scenario, a qubit can be in some superposition of the values +1 and -1. Measuring a qubit
involves specifying something called a basis—think of it as a direction.

Now. What do you say when you need to refer to more than one basis? Would you say “basises”? Maybe something you would pronounce “basisees”? Well, the correct plural is ths same as the plural of “base,” like four bases in baseball. And Scientific American got it right! Here’s the next sentence:

Using different measurement bases can yield different results.

I confess I don’t know how to pronounce that version of “bases.” How would you pronounce it? Tell me in the comments.

Here’s a picture from another quantum article:

Not much of a lesson today (I hope). This word got some significant “advertising” when I was in 6th grade. Our reading lessons featured a pioneer family and this was the winning word in a spelling bee in their one-room school house. Considering who the writer of this comic is, I’m pretty sure the error is part of the joke.

I don’t need to tell you that the correct spelling is separate, do I?

Not much of a list—only two items. Can you add to it? My question, actually, is what’s the difference between those two terms? I suspect that a nerd is not just a college-educated geek.

And which are you? Nerd or geek?

The guy on the right is a tech writer. Do you know the rule he broke?

The first rule of tech writing it to be clear! Being glad to use a difficult word makes me mad! Harrumpf!

By the way, if you want to see all five rules, send me an email—it’s to the right on the blog page. Well, or here: curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.