what drives me bonkers is the now-ubiquitous term “one of the only”–only means one quantity, one of only is contradiction. Why not use correct “one of few…”?
I don’t have any issue with a sentence like “Only five states have a Pacific Ocean coastline.” It simply means that not very many states fit that category; more broadly, that not very many x are included in the category. Nothing specific to one. Where does your beef come from?
Can I guess how you feel about “more unique”?
Your premise is wrong, “only” does not imply just one. “One of the only…” is perfectly good English.
On the other hand, even ignoring the lack of capitalization, there are four errors in your OP.
This is wrong, “one quantity” means “one amount”. Presumably you mean “one of something” or “a quantity of one”.
Missing article before contradiction.
Missing articles before correct and few.
I’d never usually be critical of a non-native speaker making an effort to debate or communicate ideas in English, but if you’re going to start criticizing normal usage in a language that you don’t speak well, that’s just a bit silly.
I am only one of the four Dopers who have responded to your thread so far.
Ignore them^^ Fedman.
You’re absolutely right. And I agree with you 110%.
j
However, Treppenwitz will no doubt be one of the only people who feels that way������
I detect some sarcasm in the “110%”. But Treppenwitz’s intended meaning is a bit opaque, since it could be read to carry the implication that OP is (in some sense) technically correct, in the same way that you can’t really go above 100%. But OP is not any kind of correct, technically or otherwise.
As pointed out, you are one of the only people who seems to be ignorant of the correct definition:
From Merriam Webster:
Bolding mine.
“One of the only” is perfectly good English. There is nothing incorrect about it.
This is the kind of correction I like to call an “incorrection.”
Merriam-Webster even has a dictionary entry for ‘one of the only’:
Trivia quiz, from the CIA World Factbook. Complete the following sentence:
“__________ is, along with Liechtenstein, one of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the world.”
Uzbekistan, although I wondered if the Caspian Sea counted for not being landlocked.
Tajikistan?
j
ETA Possibly Ninja’d, but only if I’m wrong
ETA #2 - no, that isn’t right either…
It and Kyrgyzstan border on China, which is not landlocked. Same with Mxyzptlkstan and Btfsplkstan.
nm
Ah - I knew it was a Stan (that’s QI for you) but in my haste (hey, it’s competitive round here) I remembered the wrong one.
To return to the original question: is there a difference between US and UK usage? My original comment was half joking (I can rarely stay serious for a whole sentence). Now, I see what Merriam-Webster says, but this is what Collins says:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/only
No mention of the “one of the only…” type usage. Add to that the etymology of the word which, as I understand it, relates it to the word “One” - ie, singular, unique. To me, “One of the only [several]” has always sounded ugly and wrong. Yes you do hear it in the UK now, but there are many Americanisms and American usages (egregious ones, some of them*) that make their way over here.
So, in short, I don’t care if Merriam-Webster permits “One of the only” - I won’t be using it. 
j
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- I already told you I struggle to stay serious for a whole sentence
you’re missing point–when you change placement of “only” one of, makes sense. one of only does not
you are not responding to my specific usage/placement of word only,
When you can learn enough of the English language to produce a sentence that does not contain a grammatical error, maybe I’ll start paying more attention to your belligerent criticisms of common English usage.
fedman, English is not your native language, correct? Every single one of your posts contains language errors that would be very unusual for a native English speaker to make.
Also, a number of replies in this thread have addressed your question directly, and provided dictionary citations that refute your position. Why are you ignoring those posts, and responding only to the ones that didn’t answer your question directly?
Don’t you mean “one of the only posts that didn’t answer your question directly?”