“The Galaxy Z flip 5 is ONLY Rs 99,999/ said the salesman at the mobile counter. Being a latest product from Samsung, we can work out a special price for you with an exchange of the old mobile additional upgrade bonus and extra bank cashback…”

While the salesman was rattling off the technical specifications in his sales pitch; I got stuck at the word ONLY.  What happens when people use the word ONLY, is it something to convey or to hide?

Jacob and Isaac were two religious Jews living in an apartment complex with their balconies facing each other. They  had not fasted on the Yom Kippur day, the day of atonement. They went to the Rabbi to ask for forgiveness. The Rabbi replied that it is possible only through observing a penance.  He asked both about what they liked the most. Jacob said, “sharing the marital bed with my wife.” Rabbi said, “Jacob, for the next three weeks, you shall be sleeping in a separate bedroom.” To the same question, Isaac replied, “smoking a cigar.”  Rabbi said , “likewise you are not going to smoke a cigar for the next three weeks.”

One night, Jacob’s wife knocked on his  bedroom door. Jacob said, “Darling, it is ONLY the third day. We are not supposed to be together for the next three weeks.” His wife said, “ I ONLY wanted to tell you that Isaac is smoking a cigar.”

There are many undesirable thoughts and images which are in our subconscious mind which try to escape into the conscious mind. The way the word ONLY is used is to push back the undesirable thought coming into the consciousness. You may see that from the bottom of their hearts; both Jacob and his wife wanted to be with each other; but by using the word ONLY; were trying to repress the desire. Rationalization is a process by which a person justifies his action by hiding the real intention. As Voltaire said, ‘men use thought only to justify their wrongdoing and speech only to conceal their thoughts.’

Another example to illustrate the point: While having dinner with my mother-in-law; she said, “Rajan, is the curry over?” I replied, “No, the dal fry is still there. Do you want me to serve you?” She said, “ I ONLY wanted to see whether the fish curry is over or not.” My mother-in-law being a strict vegetarian; finds it difficult to hide her consternation of someone partaking of a non-veg dish while having her meals. You may observe the word only conveys, ‘for heaven’s sake, when will the curry get over?’

When a salesman is telling you that a product costs ONLY  Rs 99,999/- what he wants to tell you is that the mobile is economical and value-for-money (as conveyed by the management).What he wants to hide is his personal opinion of the product being expensive. If you are a seller, use ONLY during order closing;  but if you are a customer; beware of the trap laid down by the seller. 

“Sir, would you like to go for this model?” the salesman interjected. I was taken aback from my reverie of hidden meanings behind the words. “By the way, you shall also get a rebate of around Rs 30,000 on your old mobile; though for specific models.” He added a caveat. When he saw that I was using a Samsung Galaxy A12, an economy model costing only Rs. 12,000, the salesman was in a rude shock. I could see a tapestry of anger, frustration, pity writ largely on his face. “Sir I ONLY need to take this urgent call and shall be back within a minute.” I knew he would not turn back so soon.

So next time when you hear the word ONLY be careful: is your colleague trying to hide more than what he wishes to convey? As someone said, “statistics is like a bikini, it conceals more than it reveals.”