Another Correct “Only”

In the grammatical sense anyway. One of my hobby horses is to oppose putting “only” too soon in the sentence. Do a search on only to find more examples.

Many people put “only” in the location equivalent to right before “toilets,” but if you put it there, the error is too obvious to miss.

You could argue that the really correct place for “only” would be before “someone.” That allows for the toilet to work at least some of the time at someone else’s house.

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This time we have a misplaced “Almost.”

Almost constructed entirely of repurposed and recycled scrap materials, Elis set out to create a welcoming villa suitable for parties and guests from his artistic circles. 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/villa-mehu

Look up “only” in the search box for my pontifications on the subject of where adjectives go—directly before what they modify, not at the beginning of the clause.

As written, the sentence says that the villa wasn’t quite constructed. I’m pretty sure the intent was to refer to the amount of repurposed and scrap materials.

Don’t you do that!

The article has several other pictures.

I’ve mentioned in the past that the correct place for the word “only” is right before the word it modifies, not at the beginning of the whole clause.

So perhaps this curse is worse for the employer than for the employee:

What? Can’t do anything at work but poop? That’s what she’s saying.

Watch what you’re saying when you use “only.”

I guess this is one way to approach approximation. That rule in the first panel is correct, by the way.

Of course I have to throw in a grammar lesson: That “only” is in the wrong place! It should go before “so.” “…jobs for only so many…”

Remember, “only” goes directly before the word it modifies.

I see these so seldom, I feel a need to give them a plug.

The rule is that “only” goes directly before the word it modifies, not at the beginning of the whole clause. Look in the lower left corner.

Now that’s not so hard, is it?