English – A Powerful Language

Professor Ernest Brennecke of Columbia University is credited with inventing a sentence that can be made to have eight different meanings by placing ONE WORD in all possible positions in the sentence: "I hit him in the eye yesterday."

  

1.  ONLY I hit him in the eye yesterday. (No one else did.)

2.  I ONLY hit him in the eye yesterday. (Did not slap him.)

3.  I hit ONLY him in the eye yesterday. (I did not hit others.)

4.  I hit him ONLY in the eye yesterday. (I did not hit outside the eye.)

5.  I hit him in ONLY the eye yesterday. (Not other organs.)

6.  I hit him in the ONLY eye yesterday. (He doesn't have another eye.)

7.  I hit him in the eye ONLY yesterday. (Not today.)

8.  I hit him in the eye yesterday ONLY. (Did not wait for today.)

This is why it is important to be precise!