I don't know why, but it seems to me that Bob would sound a bit strange if he said, "Why is it that you have to get going?" in that situation.

Relative why can be freely substituted with that, like any restrictive relative marker. I.e, substituting that for why in the sentences above produces exactly the same pattern of …

Mar 19, 2022 · Why The Steelers Suck Discussion in ' Steelers Talk ' started by Bubbahotep, Aug 20, 2025.

Dec 4, 2018 · For why' can be idiomatic in certain contexts, but it sounds rather old-fashioned. Googling 'for why' (in quotes) I discovered that there was a single word 'forwhy' in Middle English.

Sep 18, 2012 · Why does not it work the other way when the world price drops, why does not the price go down? From Ronald Finklestein, Celebrating Success! The Power of Attitude! (2003): …

Aug 21, 2025 · Why the voiced /z/ won out over the voiceless /s/ is not clear to me. Modern French mostly uses /gz/, as in xénophobie, but I don't know the history of how the modern …

Dec 2, 2011 · Since we can say "Why can we grow taller?", "Why cannot we grow taller?" is a logical and properly written negative. We don't say "Why we can grow taller?" so the construct …

Jun 1, 2013 · Why do you ask (the question)? In the first case, Jane's expression makes "the answer" direct object predicate, in the second it makes "the question" direct object predicate; …

Apr 29, 2018 · My question is: is there flexibility in how one can punctuate the phrase "Why not?" The answer may seem obvious at first...it is a question after all. However, it's also a common …

It's definitely not just English. And perhaps a creepier related question: Why do women sometimes call their boyfriends or husbands "Daddy" or "Papi"?