Everyday Life
Exploring "Why" questions about Everyday Life
479 articles
Why are objects in (old) cartoons that will be animated drawn differently and so easily noticable?
Old cartoons were hand-drawn on transparencies. Usually, there was a background artist who painted the background, then another artist who just drew the animated figure on a set of transparencies, one
Why do some words in English have two or more very different meanings?
Sometimes it's the same word that evolved into having two or more different (but related) meanings. For example a "wave" is a repeated fluctuations, just like when you wave your hand (you move it side
Why do many men’s bathrooms have open stalls with no doors or doors that don’t lock?
Many different possibilities, obviously, but if it was done by the establishment on purpose, it's in order to keep guys from doing hard drugs in there (ie heroin), or some other nefarious activity the
Why is it that alcohol does not have to have the ingredients or nutritional facts printed on the bottle?
It all depends on whether something is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, part of the Department of Health and Human Services) or the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB, pa
Why do I get addicted to stupid idling games like Cookie Clicker?
because they are: 1) simple 2) engaging 3) rewarding It is my personal theory that if you make something be all three of these things that people will do it - it doesn't matter what it is. Games are j
Why eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc are considered breakfast food?
The defining characteristic of breakfast food is that it cooks quickly with little or no preparation. Think of the foods you just listed. Eggs cook in a couple of minutes.
Why is formal titles (mr, ms, sir, officer, etc.) when addressing someone (e.g. a teacher, a parent of a friend, coach, or a cop) common in the U.S. but not in Scandinavian countries?
It's a way of showing respect to someone and their position, at least that's was I was taught when I was young.
Why doesn’t it rain salt water?
When water evaporates, it gets heated to an extent that the water particles move faster and spread apart, which causes them to become "lighter" than the air around them, turning into water vapor, a ga
Why do teachers think Wikipedia is such a bad source? Is it actually as bad as they say it is?
Historically stuff found on the internet was not that well sourced. Wikipedia was the same in its early days and got a bit of a bad reputation in that sense. It has gotten a lot better since, though.
Why can’t recovering drug addicts have alcohol?
Some recovering drug addicts do drink alcohol without abusing it. Though, the statistics seem to say that most recovering addicts cannot drink alcohol without also abusing it. Most recovery programs t