history - "How come" vs "Why?"


What are the differences between the terms "How come ... we eat breakfast?" and "Why ... do we eat breakfast?"


The words phrase based in how seems really awkward to me, and I don't understand this convention.



Answer



"How come...we eat breakfast?" is less formal. As Robusto commented, it's a contraction of something like: "How does it come to be that ...?" or "How has it come to pass that...?"


Also, it's not as confrontational. "How come you turned up late?" is softer than "Why did you turn up late?". It is a subtle mechanism that allows us to drop the 'do' verb from the question.


The latter is something your boss might ask. It is a very direct question expecting a direct answer, with the emphasis on "you doing".


The former is something your work colleague might ask. It is softer because it acknowledges that 'it came to be' that you were late. The emphasis is shifted off "you doing".


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