Be Careful Where You Put That Word!

Be careful with your word order; it could entirely change the meaning of what you’re saying.

Some words seem to be very easily misplaced. They slip in and out of sentences so stealthily that it’s hard to keep track of them. They are usually small, slippery words, like “all,” “not,” and “only.” Here are a couple of examples.

“Not all fats are bad” versus “All fats are not bad”

Look, there are two slippery words in there. The first sentence means that some fats are good and that you cannot lump (no pun intended) all fats into the same category. The second sentence means that all fats are good, or at least not bad.

“I only speak the truth” versus “I speak only the truth”

This first one gets me every time I listen to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack (it’s in the song “Hindi Sad Diamonds”).

The first one means “I do nothing but speak the truth,” which means that the speaker literally does nothing else. She does not eat, sleep or walk the dog. She only speaks the truth. I imagine she is some supernatural being with no physical presence but a mouth. The second means “I speak nothing but the truth. I tell no lies.”

These slippery words modify, limit or describe the words that come after them. When wondering where to put a slippery word, use a logical approach and ask yourself, “What concept (or word) does this word modify?” For instance, does “only” limit the action (“speak”) – am I only speaking and doing nothing else? Or does it limit that which is being spoken (“the truth”) – am I speaking anything else besides the truth?

And if all else fails and your head is in a jumble, start over and say it in a different way. What’s another way of saying “Not all fats” without using the word “not”? Answer: “Some fats.” Then, you can go with either “some fats are good” or “some fats are bad” and your sentence will be much clearer.