only for- except for?

[david11]

My mom would never let me pay in front of her, only for a gift.


One of my American friend wrote this. I wonder what "only for" means here. Does it mean "except for"?

The context is that she express her surprise seeing some American families where the bills(say in super market ) were paid separately by mother and daughter. If the "only for" means that her mother would pay only for gifts and not other things then the context in which she wrote is a bit of contradictory because then it will have to mean that she had to pay for other things separately, as other American families, which she wonders.

(The girl who wrote this is a teenager. So, I am sure how good teenagers grammar are, in America. So, I don't, safely, assume that just merely it is written by a native speaker it would be correct)

Correction: I have misspelt except as expect n the thread title. I request moderators to change it.

 

[Tdol]

It's not a very good sentence IMO, but it may be OK in AmE. I would use except for there.

 

[david11]

It's not a very good sentence IMO, but it may be OK in AmE. I would use except for there.

Then, can we use "only for" to mean "except for"? (It may not be very good to use but atleast would it be grammatically correct? I haven't seen "only for" used in that way).

(She didn't mention anything that can make us assume she meant "except for". It was my guess, in that given context, "except for" would suit.)

 

[SoothingDave]

I understand the "only for" to mean "except for." I wouldn't use it in formal writing.

 

[Barb_D]

I understand the "only for" to mean "except for." I wouldn't use it in formal writing.

I can't make sense of it in writing either. Seems like something you'd say spontaneously: My mom would never let me pay in front of her... oh, um... only a gift, I mean, except if I were buying a gift.

But even then, it doesn't make sense. If you're buying a gift for your mother, would you let her see you buy it in front of her?

This is a mystery to me, and I'm the mother of two teenage American girls.

 

[SoothingDave]

It doesn't have to be a surprise gift. Maybe she's getting her a carton of cigarettes for her birthday.