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I've got to get this off my chest. Batten down the hatches for a small rant.
Have you noticed that otherwise excellent authors and journalists are now freely using the phrase "one of the only . . ."? Think about this. A restaurant, for example, can be "the only restaurant that serves a certain dish," or it can be "one of the few restaurants that serve a certain dish". But it can't be "one of the only restaurants. . ." Really, it can't.
I don't approve of defacing library books, but if I see that phrase once more I'm going to get out the red pen.
I'll admit that my intermittent concern for the difference between "lie" and "lay" (and their respective principal parts) is too nit-picky for most people. I'm willing to let that drop. But "one of the only" is such an offense against clear thinking that it has to be stopped before it spreads.
If you are one of those who use that phrase, I'm not demanding a public confession. I just want you to stop it!
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