▪ I. why, adv. (n., int.)
(hwaɪ)
Forms: 1–3 hwy, (1 hwiᵹ, hwie), 1–4 hwi, (3 hwui, wee, ȝwi), 3–4 wi, 3–6 whi, wy, (4 Kent. hue, 4–6 whye, 5 whyghe, 6–7 whie), 4– why; 3–5 qui, 4–5 quy, qwy, quhi, 5 qwi, Sc. qwhy, 5–6 (8 arch.) Sc. quhy.
[OE. hw{iacu}, hw{yacu} instr. case of hwæt what, governed by to or for (see forwhy) or used simply as adv., corresp. to OS. hwî used with preps. (bi hwî, te hwî) and simply = why, wherefore, ON. hv{iacu} used as dat. of hvat, and as adv. = why (MSw., Da. hvi):—OTeut. *χwī:—Indo-Eur. *q{supw}ei, locative f. *q{supw}o- who; cf. Gr. (Doric) πεῖ where.]
I. 1. a. In a direct question: For what reason? from what cause or motive? for what purpose? wherefore?
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 19 Hwi ne mihte we hyne ut-adrifan? c 1000 Apollonius (1834) 2 Hwiᵹ eart þu..swa ᵹedrefedes modes? a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Hwi wolde god..him forwerne? c 1200 Ormin 2407 Whi ȝaff ȝho swillc anndswere onnȝæn, Þa Godess enngell seȝȝde Þatt ȝho wiþþ childe shollde ben? c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 33 Wee bie ye idel? 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2757 Sire king wi lete ȝe mi moder & me biuore þe lede? a 1300 Cursor M. 1128 Sir cayn, Wy has þou þi broiþer slain? Ibid. 16295 Qui smites þou me? 1340 Ayenb. 47 And hue is hit uoul dede zeþþe hit is kendelich? 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 66 Whi wolde God..suffre such a worm..þe wommon to bigyle? c 1470 Henry Wallace iii. 361 Quhi, Scot, dar thow nocht preiff? 1526 Tindale Matt. xxi. 25 He wyll saye vnto vs: why dyd ye not then beleve hym? 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 71 Patroclus is a foole positiue. Patr. Why am I a foole? 1683 Prior Pastoral to Dr. Turner 3 Why dost thou sigh, why strike thy panting breast? 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 60/2 When you came from Patna, why did you bring this paper with you? 1837 Newman Par. Serm. III. iii. 37 Why was Saul thus marked for vengeance from the beginning? 1883 D. C. Murray Hearts ix, Why don't you learn Italian? |
b. Implying or suggesting a negative assertion (= ‘there is no reason why..’); hence often expressing a protest or objection (esp. with should).
| c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxvi. 250 Ᵹif he ðæm ᵹehiersuman mannum næfde ᵹetiohhad his eðel to sellanne, hwy [v.r. hwie] wolde he hie mid ænᵹum unᵹetæsan læran? a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 282 Hwy sceal ic æfter his hyldo ðeowian?..ic mæᵹ wesan god swa he! c 1200 Vices & Virtues 13 Ic..sæide: Hwi me scolde cumen swilche unȝelimpes? c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 103 Wi list þu turnd on þe eorðe? aris þat is to seien hwi luuest þu þine fule sunnes? forlet hem. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1390 Hwi ne hihe we for to beon ifulhet? a 1250 Owl & Night. 1234 Þat eni man beo falle in odwite, Wi schal he me his sor atwite? a 1300 Cursor M. 461 Qui suld I him seruis yield? a 1400 Pistill of Susan 284 Whi spille ȝe Innocens blode? c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxxiii, Qwi schuld I layne? c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 108 Eternaile God, quhy suld I thus wayis de? 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractates iii. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 28 Quhi abolissis he not the Sonday, as he dois Ȝule? 1608 Yorksh. Trag. iii. 5 Whie should our faults at home be spred abroad? 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iii, The poor live pleasantly without our help, why then should not we learn to live without theirs? 1839 Thackeray Fatal Boots Feb., I said nothing about it, as why should I? Ibid. Aug., Why, why was I born to undergo such unmerited misfortunes? |
c. With ellipsis of the remainder of the sentence, or of all except the principal word or words (esp. when emphatic); also with simple inf. (= ‘why should one..?’). See also 4 b.
| a 1380 St. Aug. 7 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 61/1 Seint Austin was nempned þat name For þreo causus of gret fame:..Whi? furst for excellence of dignite. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lxxxvi. 406 (Add. MS.) The kyng..askid hym whethere he was shreuyn or not? he saide, ‘nay.’ ‘why so?’ saide the kyng. 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 113 Wat. Surely we shulde be proclaymed For outragious heretykis. Ief. Why more we then the Cardinall? 1528 More Dyaloge ii. Wks. 182/2, I haue euer herde it sayd, that we should not pray to any dead man but with this condicion, if thou be a saint, than pray for me. Whi so quod I? 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 231 Cam. [He] Stayes here longer. Leo. I, but why? a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour iv. i, But why a Peel-crow here? 1697 Vanbrugh æsop v. i, Why so Cold, and why so Coy? 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Epist. i. ii. 65 Blest with a competence, why wish for more? 1841 Browning Pippa passes Introd. 196 Say not ‘a small event!’ Why ‘small’? 1843 Wordsw. Grace Darling 73 But why prolong the tale? 1848 Dickens Dombey xi, ‘Berry's very fond of you, ain't she?’ Paul once asked Mrs. Pipchin... ‘Yes,’ said Mrs. Pipchin. ‘Why?’ asked Paul. 1905 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Sept. 293/1 Why books, why chapters, why titles, why any arrangement at all, they queried. |
d. With the negative form of the simple present tense in formulating a positive suggestion, as ‘why don't I (we, etc.)..?’
| 1949 D. Smith I capture Castle xii. 212 Why don't I drive you over to hear it now? 1974 G. Mitchell Winking at Brim vi. 54 Mummy brought a couple of thermos flasks... Why don't I go and collect one? 1982 R. Doyle Havana Special vii. 182 Why don't I stop by her compartment..and see how she is? |
¶ and why? is used in some early biblical versions, and hence in the Prayer-book Psalter, to render Heb. kī because, since, for: app. in imitation of forwhy after this was apprehended as interrogative (cf. forwhy B. 2, A. 1 b).
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. xx[i]. 7 For thou shalt..make him glad w{supt} the ioye of y{supi} countenaunce. And why? because [so 1539 (Great); 1560 (Geneva), 1568 (Bishops') Because; 1611 For] the kinge putteth his trust in the Lorde. Ibid. xxxiv. [xxxv.] 20 O let them not triumphe ouer me... And why? [so 1539; 1560 and later vv. For] their comonynge is not for peace. |
2. In an indirect question or a dependent clause of similar meaning, with sense and const. as in 1.
Formerly sometimes followed by that (that conj. 6).
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xxvi. §2 Ic nat hwi ᵹe fultruwiað ðæm hreosendan welan. c 1055 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 308 Uton..witan hwæt he [sc. the moon] sy..oððe hwy he sy swa ᵹehaten. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 111 Ȝiff mann wile witenn whi Icc hafe don þiss dede. a 1250 Owl & Night. 474 Þv ayssest me..Hwi ich a wynter singe & grede. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9265 Yn hys redyng, none wyst why, he logh a grete laghter an hy. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xi. 245 Ac whi þe worlde was a-drent holy writ telleþ. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 14241 Durste no man aske whi he were wroth. a 1425 Cursor M. 1323 (Trin.) Seth bigon to þenke whye Þat þis tre bicoom so drye. a 1474 Stonor Papers (Camden) I. 136 Wherof to me-werd he makith gret straungenesse: y merveile why. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. (1878) 74, I can not se wy we schold lay any grete faute in the lake of pepul. 1581 Cal. Scott. Pap. VIII. 19, I dare give him no counsell, and I will tell you why. 1611 Bible Esther iv. 5 To know what it was, and why it was. 1724 Ramsay Vision xvi, Say how, and quhair ye met, and quhy. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Visit to Newgate, Buoyed up with some vague..hope of reprieve, he knew not why. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 7 It is easy to explain why the Roman Catholic was treated with less indulgence. |
3. a. With intensive additions (in direct or dependent questions): see devil n. 20, dickens a, earth n.1 9 c, name n. 11 b, etc.
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 95 Quhy Deuill makis thow na dule for this euill day? 1762 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) Let. 4 Nov., Wks. (1862) 326 There's scarce a boy,..that commits a fault, but can find one excuse or another. Then why the dickens must Tim be without one? 1860 W. W. Reade Liberty Hall II. 20 Why in the name of all patience should you work so hard as this? 1887 Darwin Life & Lett. I. 488 Give [the English names] by all means, but why on earth not make them subordinate to the Latin. 1895 Kipling Lett. of Travel (1920) 115 Why, in the name of Reason,..should we vex ourselves? |
b. Duplicated in phr. why, oh why..?, as an emphatic interrogative, expressing dismay, disapproval, or complete lack of comprehension of another's actions; ‘why on earth..?’
| 1865 M. Arnold Let. 23 July (1895) I. 294 Why, oh, why do not you and Edward come to the Black Forest and join us? a 1884 T. H. Huxley Let. in Henry Bristow Ltd. Catal. (1981) No. 269. 14 My students..cannot get copies of the second edition of the Biology book. Why oh why was it not ready by October. 1934 N. Marsh Man lay Dead xi. 194 Why, oh why, did the murderer sound the gong? 1961 ‘E. Lathen’ Banking on Death (1962) viii. 70 Why, oh why, had she been so bitchy to his wife? 1975 Times 8 Mar. 13/7 Why, Oh why does Rolls-Royce..name its latest product after an area of French marsh⁓land? |
4. With a negative particle immediately following. † a. why ne (usually as one word whine, whyne, also contr. whyn): why not: used in expressions of desire or longing (e.g. hwi nam ich... = ‘why am I not..?’ = ‘O that I were..!’), in OE. of emphatic protest (cf. 1 b). Obs.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 67 Hwy nelt þu ᵹeman þæt min sweostor me læt ane þeᵹnian? a 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xi[i]. 4 Hwi ne synt we muðfreo? c 1200 Vices & Virtues 87 Hwi ne mai ich none wuneȝenge habben mid ðe? a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 185 Hwi ne bi-hold ich hu þu strahtest þe for me on rode? Ibid., A ihesu..hwi nam ich in þin earmes? 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1207 ‘O þou world’, he says, ‘unclene, Whyn mught þou swa unclen be, Þat suld never mare neghe me’ [L. utinam esses ita immundus, ut me non tangeres]. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 703 Whyne myghte I, dere lufe, dye in ȝour armes! Ibid. 4157 Qwythene [app. = why then ne] hade Dryghttyne destaynede at his dere wille, Þat he hade demyd me to-daye to dy for ȝow alle. |
b. why not is used elliptically as in 1 c. (Hence as n.: see why-not.)
| a 1380 St. Aug. 920 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 77 And eny tyme ȝif hit schal beo, Whi not nou? c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4883 Why naght, my gode lorde? what shuld yow eyle? But men do naght so; where-of I merueyle. 1552 Huloet, Whye not? quid ni. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Epist. i. i. 44 Yet why not cure the gout's decrepit pain? 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxvi, Yet wherefore, if guilty, should she have perilled herself by coming hither? Why not rather have fled to her father's or elsewhere? 1882 Besant All Sorts xxx, You can't marry me? Why not? When I offer you a fortune? Ibid. xxxvii, They say, ‘Here is the Fourth Commandment. All the rest you continue to observe. Why not this?’ Mod. I can't tell you why not. |
II. 5. a. As relative: On account of which, because of which, for which. Usually, now almost always, after reason (formerly also cause, etc.). Also ellipt. (See also cause n. 3 c.)
Formerly also with that (that conj. 6).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 312 Monie oðre reisuns beoð hwui mon mei beon bitterliche sori uor his sunnen. a 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 161 Þis aungel..neuend peter by name, a skill I tel yow qwy. a 1380 St. Aug. 137 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 64/1 Heo..asked hire þe cause whi Þat heo was so sori. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 148 Sche sih hire fader sorwe and sike, And wiste noght the cause why. 1483 Acta Audit. in Acta Dom. Conc. II. Introd. 133 Quhill the said William..schew uther lauchfull cause quhy scho suld nocht have the said thrid. 1521 Acts Parlt. Scot. (1875) XII. 39/1 We se nane appearance quhy ȝoure grace suld belieff [etc.]. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Luke xxiii. 13–25 What hath this man committed or offended why he should dye? 1581 Parsons (title) Reasons why Catholiques refuse to go to Church. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 34 If I demand..what Impediment there is, Why that the naked, poore, and mangled Peace..Should not..put vp her louely Visage? 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. iv. xiv. 89 Eros. My sword is drawne. Ant. Then let it do at once The thing why thou hast drawne it. a 1721 Prior Female Phaeton vi, I'll have my Earl, as well as She, Or know the Reason why. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 26 We can perceive the reason why a small proportion of carbonic oxide is always formed during the decomposition of nitre by charcoal. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxviii. 372 It would be useless to deny that your life is in grave danger... But that is no reason why you should surrender it without a struggle. |
† b. For which reason, wherefore. Obs. rare—1.
| a 1500 in Arnolde's Chron. (1811) 22 Also we haue grauntyd for vs and for our eyers to our citezens y{supt} they..be quyt for euer of pauage pontage and murage..Why we wyll and stedfastly byd for vs and for our eyers, y{supt} y⊇ same citezens..haue all her fraunches..and fre custumes aforesayd. |
† c. to do (one) why: to recompense (= to do wherefore: see wherefore 3). Obs. rare—1.
| c 1400 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xxxviii. (1908) 195 So that they wolde mede hym and done hym why. |
d. Introducing a subject or predicate clause: = ‘the reason why’.
Closely allied to the indirect interrogative use (sense 2); e.g. ‘Why this should be so is not clear’ = ‘It is not clear why this should be so.’ (Cf. where 6.)
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 33 Why I do trifle thus with his dispaire, Is done to cure it. 1820 Keats La Belle Dame Sans Merci xii, And this is why I sojourn here. 1882 Besant All Sorts xv, At first I thought it must be a joke. That was why I went away. Mod. Why I mentioned that was because [etc.]. |
III. 6. as n. (pl. whys). a. Reason, cause.
(Formerly as a general synonym for these words; now only in reference to something mentioned, and with conscious allusion to the interrogative use.)
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3758 Ȝyf þou art wunt..For to curse for lytyl why. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 217 So I sey by þe þat sekest after þe whyes [MS. C. whaies; MS. B. wyes] And aresonedest resoun. 1393 Ibid. C. xix. 147 [He] wepte water with hus eyen, the whi witen fewe. 1423 Jas. I. Kingis Q. lxxxvii, Vnkyndenes without a quhy. c 1500 Lancelot 123 Well he knowith of al my vo the quhy. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages (Bann. Club) 35 As may perchance be done for sum gude quhy. a 1644 Quarles Sol. Recant. ch. vii. 10. 33 Where heav'n declares a Will, no wise mans eye Should search a Cause, or lips enquire a why. 1740 Cheyne Regimen Pref. p. iii, But the Why? the final Causes, the moral Consequences, and the particular Detail, is only here conjectured about. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 521 Never to act upon mere impulse, but to have a why for all their proceedings. 1828 Southey Ess. (1832) II. 415 The reader who may not be..acquainted with the when, and the how, and the why of the surrender. 1907 Illingworth Doctr. Trin. xii. 250 The region not of life's how, but of life's why. |
b. A question beginning with (or consisting of) the word ‘why?’; a question as to the reason of something; hence, a problem, an enigma.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 427/1 But I aske of Tyndall no such farre fet whyes, but a why of hys owne dede... I aske hym thys why: Why dydde he translate the same by thys englyshe woorde elder? a 1592 Greene Alphonsus 1, Make you a why of that? 1637 Whiting Albino & Bellama 6 The testy Father with a furrow'd brow Comes to Bellama with demanding why? 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 31 Each Day brings forth its why. a 1754 Fielding Fathers ii. i, Why should you think he has my affections? Valence. Again at your why's! 1780 Harris Philol. Enq. ii. i. (1781) 48 Till this Why is well answered, all is Darkness. 1866 A. Steinmetz Weathercasts 20 She could supply the ready ‘because’ to many of the old philosopher's ‘whys’. |
c. Conjoined with wherefore similarly used.
| 1590, 1624 [see wherefore 6]. 1634 Sanderson Serm. (1674) I. iv. 65 Requiring a why for every wherefore. 1799 Spirit Public Jrnls. (1805) III. 329 By this they shall form assignations, with the when and the where—they shall break them off, with the why and the wherefore, and express a disappointment without a tear or a sigh. 1829 Carlyle Misc., Signs of Times (1857) II. 113 For every Why we must have a Wherefore. 1833 H. Martineau Brooke Farm viii. 103 If I were to tell you all the whys and wherefores on that question. 1911 Marett Anthropol. viii. 227 The savage is no authority on the why and wherefore of his customs. |
IV. 7. Used interjectionally, before a sentence or clause. a. As an expression of surprise (sometimes only momentary or slight; sometimes involving protest), either in reply to a remark or question, or on perceiving something unexpected.
| 1519 Interl. Four Elem. B vij, Than I perceyue ye wyll make gode chere. Hu. Why, what shulde I els do? 1581 Confer. with Campion (1583) C iij, Why, is not Saint Iames Epistle called the Catholike Epistle of Saint Iames. How do you then denie it to be Canonicall? 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iv. ii. 44 Why this is flat periurie, to call a Princes brother villaine. Ibid. v. iv. 73 Bene. Doo not you loue me? Beat. Why no, no more then reason. 1611 Bible Matt. xxvii. 23 They all sayde vnto him, Let him be crucified. And the Gouernour said, Why, what euil hath he done? 1712 Steele Spect. No. 533 ¶1 What do I think? why, I think she cannot be above six foot two inches high. 1799 Warner in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 274 What was I to do in this more than Egyptian darkness? Why, go to bed. Very true. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxix, ‘Goodness gracious!’ said Mary,.. ‘Why, it's that very house.’ 1847 De Quincey Secret Soc. Wks. 1890 VII. 217 Were there no such people as the Essenes? Why, no; not as Josephus described them. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. iii, And, as he spoke, he turned quite pale, and then quite white. ‘Why, you're ill!’ said Tom. 1893 M. Pemberton Iron Pirate i, Mary looked up suddenly..and said,..‘Why, I believe I've been asleep!’ |
b. Emphasizing or calling more or less abrupt attention to the statement following (as in the apodosis of a sentence), in opposition to a possible or vaguely apprehended doubt or objection.
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 90 When she feleth greate ache in the inner parte of the eyes.., y⊇ reste of the body taken as it were with a werynesse without any outwarde apparent cause: why these thynges portende..aborcement to be at hande. 1590 Lodge Rosalind (1592) N 2 b, And to conceale it, why it doubled her griefe. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. i. 33 If hap'ly won, perhaps a haplesse gaine, If lost, why then a grieuous labour won. 1594 1st Pt. Contention ii. i, Why let me see, I thinke thou canst not see yet. a 1596 Sir T. More i. i. 122 Take an honest woman from her husband! why, it is intollerable. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 121 Ham. I shall in all my best Obey you Madam. King. Why 'tis a louing, and a faire Reply. Ibid. iii. ii. 282 Why let the strucken Deere go weepe, The Hart vngalled play. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Request iii, If her chill heart I cannot move, Why, I'le enjoy the very Love. 1724 Swift Quiet Life 27 Why, Dick, thy wife has devilish whims. 1769 Goldsm. Rom. Hist. (1786) I. 439 If you will have Caesar for your master, why have him. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop i, ‘A long way, wasn't it, Kit?’.. ‘Why then, it was a goodish stretch, master,’ returned Kit. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. iii, If she chooses to come, why she may; and if not, why I go without her. 1869 G. J. Whyte-Melville Songs & Verses 93 So he made for the gate,..And the chain being round it, why—over he flew! 1882 Besant All Sorts xxiii, ‘Not a doubt’, added the Professor. ‘Why, it stands to reason.’ |
† c. As an emphasized call or summons, expressing some degree of impatience. Obs.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. v. 2, 3 Mistris, what Mistris? Iuliet?.. Why Lambe, why Lady, fie you sluggabed, Why Loue I say?..why Bride? 1596 ― Merch. V. ii. v. 6 What Iessica?.. Why Iessica I say. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, v. i. 8 What Dauy, I say... Why Dauie. |
† d. why, so! an expression of content, acquiescence, or relief. Obs. or arch.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. ii. 87 Ser. My Lord, your sonne was gone before I came. Yor. He was: why so: go all which way it will. 1596 ― Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 198 Pet...It shall be what a clock I say it is. Hor. Why so this gallant will command the sunne. 1605 ― Macb. iii. iv. 107 Hence, horrible shadow...[Ghost vanishes.] Why, so, being gone, I am a man againe. 1826 Scott Woodst. iii, If you will have the things rendered even now—why so; and if not, hold me blameless. |
V. 8. for why: a. interrog. For what reason, why (= 1, 2). b. rel. For which reason, wherefore; for which (= 5, 5 b). c. conj. For the reason that, because, for. Obs., arch., or dial. (See forwhy and cf. why-for.)
In later use commonly apprehended as the adverb why with a redundant for prefixed (cf. from whence).
| c 1000–1502 [see forwhy]. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 169 [She] Trembled and shooke: for why, he stamp'd and swore. 1604 ― Oth. i. iii. 259 The Rites for why I loue him, are bereft me. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 212 Away Went Gilpin's hat and wig! He lost them sooner than at first—For why?—they were too big! 1819 Metropolis II. 207 We do not like him, I do not precisely know for why. 1821 Scott Kenilw. xi, ‘Why, Dame,’ said the hostler,..‘as for what he was like I cannot tell,..for why I never saw un.’ 1896 E. F. Benson The Babe B. A. i, For why? I am dining with the Babe to-night. |
VI. 9. Comb. why-question, a question inquiring after the reason for something; one which is introduced by the word ‘why’. Cf. wh 2.
| 1973 A. Dundes Mother Wit 568 ‘Why’ questions are always difficult to answer. 1978 Language LIV. 71 A that-clause can be the basis of a why-question when it is assigned the semantic status of the volunteered stance of the subject of the verb whose complement it is. |
Hence as v. intr., to ask the question ‘why?’ (chiefly as pres. pple.); also ˈwhying vbl. n.
| 1926 H. Pearson Whispering Gallery ii. 19, I made the mistake of doing or dying, but at the same time why-ing. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 520 Why indeed? But once you start whying, there's no end to it. 1932 E. M. Brent-Dyer Chalet Girls in Camp i. 24 ‘Why?’.. ‘For goodness' sake don't start why-ing, Rix!’ 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 Jan. 7/1 (heading) Howing and whying. |
▪ II. why(e
northern ff. quey, heifer.