From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english


Ar an s|-|| l|i is fiche de m|! M|-an F||mhair, scr|!obh Silvano:

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grauniad . Your assessment is correct, the writer and editor phrased it wrong.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/may/12/guardian-200-typo-negative-best-worst-grauniad-mistakes
--
rCyAs I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stoutrCO
(C. Moore)
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

In article <11993sp$nouj$1@dont-email.me>,
Silvano <Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it> wrote:

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

It's perfectly idiomatic English, meaning the same as "one of the
few". You can say it's illogical, but that's language for you.

See for example https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one%20of%20the%20only

-- Richard
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

On Saturday, Silvano yelped out that:

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

It's we that need the help. The phrase "one of the only" is usually
used when "one of the few" is meant. Plenty of AUEers are careful
enough to never use it, but it is rife in the world and even some of us
may succumb to it in casual conversation.

It occasionally is used for "the only", but that is a marker that the
speaker is hedging bets.

Generally considered an imperfect utterance, but common enough to count
as a "standard error".

/dps
--
"It wasn't just a splash in the pan"
-- lectricbikes.com
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

In article <11993sp$nouj$1@dont-email.me>,
Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it says...

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

Sounds like one of those "unique individuals".

Janet
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Le 26/09/2026 |a 19:45, Silvano a |-crit :

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

You're right. It's faulty. The author was on autopilot, not thinking
about what he or she was writing.

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

On 27/09/2026 6:45 p.m., Hibou wrote:

Le 26/09/2026 |a 19:45, Silvano a |-crit :

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

You're right. It's faulty. The author was on autopilot, not thinking
about what he or she was writing.

Can somebody help me out by carefully explaining just what is "faulty"
or "imperfect" or "illogical" about it?
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Den 26.09.2026 kl. 23.37 skrev Richard Tobin:

In article <11993sp$nouj$1@dont-email.me>,
Silvano <Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it> wrote:

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

It's perfectly idiomatic English, meaning the same as "one of the
few". You can say it's illogical, but that's language for you.

The "illogicality" lies in the plural, not in "one of". But I don't
think that it's illogical. I'm used to such expressions in Danish.

The only western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis [...] is a
group. It makes sense to talk about one of them.
--
Bertel, Kolt, Danmark

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Le 27/09/2026 |a 07:06, Ross Clark a |-crit :

On 27/09/2026 6:45 p.m., Hibou wrote:

Le 26/09/2026 |a 19:45, Silvano a |-crit :

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the >>> few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

You're right. It's faulty. The author was on autopilot, not thinking
about what he or she was writing.

Can somebody help me out by carefully explaining just what is "faulty"
or "imperfect" or "illogical" about it?

It's true that 'only' can apply to several people (we aren't the only
people who know that), but - for me, anyway - that sense doesn't work in
the Guardian's sentence. But why? I'm damned if I can say - and I find
those who often help me out - Fowler, Partridge, and Gowers - are silent
on this. 'Few' is much better.

Perhaps it's just not idiomatic:

<https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=he+is+one+of+the+only%2Che+is+one+of+the+few&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3>

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Op 26/09/2026 om 20:45 schreef Silvano:

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

It's perfectly idiomatic, Google AI tells me.

On Reddit I find this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/16c3myl/one_of_the_only/
with this comment https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/16c3myl/comment/jzh3z8l/,

and exactly the same (?AI!) replicas in the Dutch and French Reddits, on
the same expressions
"een van de enige", "un des seuls", all perfectly idiomatic.

As for the alledged uniqueness of "only", this can apply to a group as well: "The only contemporary composers I like are..."
Now, "one of the only" would strictly speaking mean: picking out one of
the group of "only" ones;
where in practice it picks out one of the non-specified group of "few"
ones known (or not)...
--
guido wugi
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

On Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:25:40 +0100, Janet <nobody@home.com> wrote:

In article <11993sp$nouj$1@dont-email.me>,
Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it says...

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the
few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

Sounds like one of those "unique individuals".

One of the most unique.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

On 27/09/2026 13:51, Steve Hayes wrote:

On Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:25:40 +0100, Janet <nobody@home.com> wrote:

In article <11993sp$nouj$1@dont-email.me>,
Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it says...

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the >>> few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

Sounds like one of those "unique individuals".

One of the most unique.

I understand that "uniquest" is an acceptable word in Scrabble.

(For some value of 'acceptable'.)
--
Sam Plusnet
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

On 28/09/26 05:25, Sam Plusnet wrote:

I understand that "uniquest" is an acceptable word in Scrabble.

(For some value of 'acceptable'.)

What's wrong with a quest in a uni?
--
Peter Moylan peter@pmoylan.org http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

On 28/09/26 09:05, Peter Moylan wrote:

On 28/09/26 05:25, Sam Plusnet wrote:

I understand that "uniquest" is an acceptable word in Scrabble.

(For some value of 'acceptable'.)

What's wrong with a quest in a uni?

It bothers me more that "misle" is not in the Scrabble dictionaries.
--
Peter Moylan peter@pmoylan.org http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

On Sun, 27 Sep 2026 20:25:58 +0100, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:

On 27/09/2026 13:51, Steve Hayes wrote:

On Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:25:40 +0100, Janet <nobody@home.com> wrote:

In article <11993sp$nouj$1@dont-email.me>,
Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it says...

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and >>>> the world should look like."

One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the >>>> few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one >>>> of the only" escapes me.

Can you help me?

Sounds like one of those "unique individuals".

One of the most unique.

I understand that "uniquest" is an acceptable word in Scrabble.

As opposed to "multiquest"? (I've never played Scrabble).
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english


* Steve Hayes <5a4iblh5n44d64cepauog9er6l6rc50ol7@4ax.com> :
Wrote on Sun, 27 Sep 2026 14:51:53 +0200:

On Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:25:40 +0100, Janet <nobody@home.com> wrote:

Silvano@noncisonopernessuno.it says...

Guardian quote:
"Over the past decade, Macron has consistently been one of the only
western leaders with a morally intelligent analysis of what Europe and
the world should look like."
One of the only? I'd understand "the only western leader" or "one of the >>> few western leaders" and agree with one of these suggestions, but "one
of the only" escapes me.

Sounds like one of those "unique individuals".

One of the most unique.

I'm sure he means "the one and only", except he probably can't say it
and expect to continue as a journalist, so he munges the words, but it
hits the reader's subconscious pattern-recognition, that macron is the
one, ONE, one and only leader of the free world who can save the west

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Den 27.09.2026 kl. 21.25 skrev Sam Plusnet:

One of the most unique.

I understand that "uniquest" is an acceptable word in Scrabble.

Uni-quest?
--
Bertel, Kolt, Danmark

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Den 27.09.2026 kl. 21.25 skrev Sam Plusnet:

I understand that "uniquest" is an acceptable word in Scrabble.

There are other superlatives that you could try:

squarest, roundest, wettest ...
--
Bertel, Kolt, Danmark

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

In article <igmjblll7h7ss53djr28uhkl4af8n70hmq@4ax.com>,
hayesstw@telkomsa.net says...

(I've never played Scrabble).

That is shocking news. You've missed a lifetime of strenuous arguments/fights about words.

Like AUE, but with more point-scoring and tantrums.

It's never too late; buy a set for your family at Christmas.

Janet
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Janet <nobody@home.com> wrote:

In article <igmjblll7h7ss53djr28uhkl4af8n70hmq@4ax.com>, hayesstw@telkomsa.net says...

(I've never played Scrabble).

That is shocking news. You've missed a lifetime of strenuous arguments/fights about words.

Like AUE, but with more point-scoring and tantrums.

It's never too late; buy a set for your family at Christmas.

For more of it:
The author of 'Opperlands' invented a scrabble variant
with bonus points for words that are not in the dictionary,
but could have been good words.

It is far more suitable for having fights about words
than standard scrabble, as it is originality that counts,
rather than dictionary knowledge,

Jan



--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.usage.english

Peter Moylan wrote on 28.09.26 01:09:

On 28/09/26 09:05, Peter Moylan wrote:

On 28/09/26 05:25, Sam Plusnet wrote:

I understand that "uniquest" is an acceptable word in Scrabble.

(For some value of 'acceptable'.)

What's wrong with a quest in a uni?

It bothers me more that "misle" is not in the Scrabble dictionaries.

This was done deliberately, I think. Use "mizzle".
That's more points anyway. Otherwise, just "smile".

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2