I find it interesting that a very common copy edit I make is to move "only." I think it's rare that "only" appears in the location that editors typically want it to go. Example:
Common: Pandas only eat shoots and leaves.
After editing: Pandas eat only shoots and leaves.
I don't think I'd realized just how much freedom there is in colloquial speech in the placement of this qualifier. In all cases, of course, it's perfectly clear what is meant, but we are professionally obliged to place it as close as possible to that which is limited. Or I do that, anyway.
I mentioned this to my fellow editors, and Colleague David made the following insightful observation:I maintain that it tends to come earlier than we deem appropriate because it's a signal that the speaker/writer intends to make a restrictive statement (or whatever you linguisty types would call it).
For example, we say "I've only been here for 10 minutes," but we would change it to "I've been here for only 10 minutes." In the linear flow of the sentence/utterance, the "correct" version can be seen to delay the point of the sentence unnecessarily.