Why?

My favorite question word is: Why?

Why?

Because, as journalists and children know, it’s the best way to get people talking.

Questions are different from statements. If you’re listening to a statement (I’m happy with this), you aren’t expected to do anything. But a question calls for a response.

The least response is to a yes/no question. (Are you happy? Yes.)

An interviewer can get more out of a person by asking a wh- question: who, where, when, what.

Who? (a person).

Where? (a place).

When? (a time).

What? (an event, an object.)

And then there is why. It calls for not just an item, but an explanation, a reason (because).

The first four question words ordinarily can be used only once. (Who was that?) To ask them a second time means that you hadn’t heard the answer. (Who was that, again?)

But why not only calls for a full explanation, you can iterate it ad infinitum. Whatever the answer to the first why, the questioner can follow up repeatedly with “And why is that?”

As I said, children and interviewers know this grammatical truth. And so did Woody Guthrie, who celebrates why in one of his most famous songs. Here are a few of his dozen stanzas:

Why, oh why, oh why oh, why? Why, oh why, oh why? Because because because because Goodbye goodbye goodbye

Why can’t a bird eat an elephant? Why, oh why, oh why? ‘Cause an elephant’s got a pretty hard skin. Goodbye goodbye goodbye.

Why can’t a mouse eat a streetcar? Why, oh why, oh why? ‘Cause a mouse’s stomach could never get big enough to hold a streetcar. Goodbye goodbye goodbye.

Why don’t you answer my questions? Why, oh why, oh why? ‘Cause I don’t know the answers. Goodbye goodbye goodbye.