"IF WE COULD ONLY REMEMBER ..."

James J. Kilpatrick writes an interesting column on language -- when he's not discussing issues before the US Supreme Court -- and Sunday, January the 20th, he delved into the proper placement of the word only within sentences.

This is the annual message to writers: No little dog trick will do more to improve your prose than mastering the placement of "only." The rule is to snuggle the defining "only" close to the word it modifies. In that regard, we recall a fracas in a schoolyard. There ...

The full essay here.