The use of “only.”
Here is another bone of contention among writers. The correct placement of “only” in a sentence depends largely on what part of the sentence is to be stressed.
According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary:
“After 200 years of preachment the following observations may be made: the position of only in standard spoken English is not fixed, since ambiguity is avoided through sentence stress; in casual prose that keeps close to the rhythms of speech only is often placed where it would be in speech; and in edited and more formal prose, only tends to be placed immediately before the word or words it modifies.”
Examples:
Those kids respond to only one teacher; the rest seem to have little influence.
Only two kids responded to the invitation.
One Newsflash reader asked about a couple of other gray areas:
Is it bite-size or bite-sized? Farmer’s market, farmers market, or farmers’ market?
Again, according to Merriam-Webster, it is correct to use either “size.” The more common usage listed is “bite-size” or “king-size,” but under variant usage “bite-sized” and “king-sized” are listed.
The same goes for those farmers’/farmers/farmer’s markets. As our reader noted, “Sheesh! How many ways can you find this expressed on any given day?”
It would make more sense to use “farmers’ market,” as it indicates a market where there is usually more than one farmer selling their wares, but a Google search yields no consistent usage or hard-and-fast rule.
Oh, and one more thing:
Use “bated” breath, not “baited” breath. The word “bated” is the abbreviated form of “abated,” which means to subside or put an end to.