Nov 7, 2013 · The question: "Why is [etc.]" is a question form in English: Why is the sky blue? Why is it that children require so much attention? Why is it [or some thing] like that? When that form is put into what is called indirect speech, it becomes: Please tell me why the sky is blue. Please tell me why children require so much attention.

Dec 4, 2018 · "For why" (also hyphenated or written as one word) meaning "why" as a direct interrogative was used in Old and Middle English (see the MED's entry), but it became obsolete sometime around the year 1500. Other senses of the expression (for example, it was used as a conjunction meaning "because") gradually over time all dropped out of use, so the ...

Nov 16, 2010 · Why would it be strange to shorten this? It is common to shorten the official name of a country — most people don't even know the official names for the various countries. For example, the official name of Mexico is "los Estados Unidos Mexicanos", which means "the Mexican United States"; nobody is surprised that it is referred to as "Mexico".

Jul 18, 2012 · Why are detectives/inspectors colloquially referred to as Gumshoes? Is it anything other that they would travel a lot in investigations and, presumably, wore hard-wearing shoes?

I was looking up a definition online, as I often do, in this case the British slang word tuppence; I got the standard "a slang reference to a coin denomination" definition from Wikipedia,...

Dec 1, 2015 · According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it comes from "fag", meaning a loose piece of cloth:. fag (n.1) Look up fag at Dictionary.com British slang for "cigarette" (originally, especially, the butt of a smoked cigarette), 1888, probably from fag "loose piece, last remnant of cloth" (late 14c., as in fag-end "extreme end, loose piece," 1610s), which perhaps is …

Why always one diode takes up all the voltage drop in a series of diodes? When power bar is switched off, automatically turn on a different outlet Starting with a pile of 1,001 rocks, discarding some and splitting up the piles, can you eventually have all piles with exactly 3 rocks?

Nov 24, 2010 · It seems that there are in general two broad but distinct types of the question Why. One asks for a cause or purpose and the other asks for an intended outcome or result. The question How come is limited to asking only the former type of Why questions and not the latter.

Dec 22, 2012 · That’s why, even if the origins of the word “history” are clear, the question of who gets to decide which version of the past is the right one remains a contentious debate centuries after the term came to be. “The narrative element has always been there,” Zimmer says.

May 25, 2012 · As for why such misperceptions persist and become widespread, it only takes one exposure to misinformation to lock it into one's brain. This reminds me of a friend who once related how, while working on a project in his garage, he playfully asked his daughter to fetch him a "sawdonkey", making what he assumed was an obviously humorous pun on ...