APAD: Every why has a wherefore

Every why has a wherefore.

Everything has a reason or explanation behind it. We should seek to understand the causes and reasons behind things, rather than simply accepting them at face value.

This proverb came from the Shakespearean quote “Neither rhyme nor reason"

which itself came from the play:

 

The Comedy of Errors

"Dromio: But I pray, sir, why am I beaten?

Antipholus: Dost thou not know?

Dromio: Nothing, sir, but that I am beaten.

Antipholus: Shall I tell you why?

Dromio: Ay, sir, and wherefore; for they say, every why hath a wherefore.

Antipholus: Why, first, for flouting me, and then wherefore, for urging it the second time to me.

Dromio: Was there ever any man thus beaten out of season, when in the why and the wherefore is neither rhyme nor reason?”

Here Shakespeare links alliterative nouns in ‘neither rhyme nor reason’ and attempts a little Latin comedy while he’s at it; in fact, it wouldn’t be out of place on TV today.

Poor Dromio, confused as to why he is beaten, angers his master Antipholus even more by asking for a reason. Antipholus is sure Dromio has said something he shouldn’t, confusing the servant even more. The cause of the confusion lies in twin Antipholus and Dromios, a case of comical mistaken identity – a plot still used by Hollywood today.