[Ads-l] Heard: _don't only_

[Laurence Horn]

> On Apr 17, 2016, at 8:40 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> I too prefer "just," but I've heard the other so often that I probably use
> it now too.
> 
> JL

Note, for what it's worth, that "not only" and "not just" are not the same semantically:

[Background for non-poker players:  a full house outranks a flush, but if you have a full house you can't have a flush--assuming no wild cards.]
I don't just have a flush, I have a full house.      [OK]
#I don't only have a flush, I have a full house.  [not OK]

This is more general:

We're not just engaged, we're married.
#We're not only engaged, we're married.  [implies we're both]

I'm not just a sophomore, I'm a junior.
#I'm not only a sophomore, I'm a junior.  [implies I'm both]

This isn't just a one-night stand, isn't true love.
(#)This isn't only a one-night stand, isn't true love.  [a bit odd, unless it can be both]

Professor H. is not just an old fart, he's a distinguished senior scholar.
≠ Professor H. is not only an old fart, he's a distinguished senior scholar.  [implies I'm...er, he's both]

LH

> 
> On Sat, Apr 16, 2016 at 10:08 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Archie Bell of Houston, Texas:
>> 
>> "We _don't only_ sing, but we dance as good as we want to."
>> 
>> Korean instructor in English:
>> 
>> "There are about thirty British dialects, so we should understand that
>> British speakers _don't only_ use received pronounciation [sic]."
>> 
>> Speaking only for myself, naturally, _don't only_ is bizarre.
>> I prefer
>> 
>> _don't just sing_ and _don't use only_.
>> 
>> "Different strokes," I reckon.
>> 
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> -----
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
>> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -Mark Twain
>> 
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>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
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