Why'd ... (why Did ...) - WordReference Forums

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. why'd ... (why did ...)

• Thread starter Thread starter Dieeglops
• Start date Start date Jul 4, 2009

D

Dieeglops

Member

Santiago Spanish - CL In the Foo Fighters song's said: Why'd you have to go and let it die What means why'd I search it on WR definition but doesn't appear. PS I haven't been studying English very long, so if you found a mistake on my post please let me know. Thanks, Diego.

Loob

Senior Member

English UK Hi Diego Why'd could be short for why would, why did, or why had. It's not a standard written contraction, more a reflection of how people speak. In your context, I expect it means "why did".

sound shift

Senior Member

Derby (central England) English - England I agree with Loob. By the way, "What means 'why'd'?" is not correct. "What does 'why'd' mean?" is correct. U

user352145

Senior Member

London, England English- British as Loob said, it's not a standardised written contraction. You might hear people speak like that - you found it written because it is a lyric from a song and lyrics are normally written to represent how they are sung. D

Dieeglops

Member

Santiago Spanish - CL 'Is not a standardized written contraction' Thank you guys. A

Alxmrphi

Senior Member

NW England UK English Why'd you have to = Why did you have to.

Why'd could be short for why would, why did, or why had. Click to expand...

As Loob points out it could mean the others, but if we extended it in this example, it'd mean "why did". M

mplsray

Senior Member

Minneapolis, Minnesota USA English, USA

Dieeglops said: 'Is not a standardized written contraction' Thank you guys. Click to expand...

I think a good case could be made for why'd being an example of the standard contraction 'd. The latter appears as an entry in the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.; the Encarta World English Dictionary, North American ed.; the Random House Dictionary, Unabridged; and the Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English. If you had looked up 'd in the first three of these dictionaries, available online, you would have found your answer. The Oxford dictionary mentioned, also available online, for some reason shows 'd as a contraction for had and would, but does not mention its use as a contraction of did. Examples used in the definitions of these dictionaries contained such words as who'd and where'd, neither of which seems to me to be more standard than why'd. In addition to that, none of the entries labeled this use of 'd as informal. Now it may well be that why'd might have been labeled informal if it had appeared as a separate entry, but even so, it would still represent a standard written form of the word, just as ain't represents a standard written form of that word (a word which itself is nonstandard).

yyfroy

Member

Chinese

mplsray said: I think a good case could be made for why'd being an example of the standard contraction 'd. The latter appears as an entry in the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.; the Encarta World English Dictionary, North American ed.; the Random House Dictionary, Unabridged; and the Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English... Click to expand...

Thank you, mplsray. You did a great job! You must log in or register to reply here. Share: Bluesky LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

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