why do i look skinnier but weigh more - HEALTHIES
TORONTO (Reuters) - A new app that lets users shed virtual weight so their faces look skinnier on "selfie" photos is raising concerns about health and body-image issues. SkinneePix, for iPhone and ... Reuters: New app sheds virtual weight so faces look slimmer on 'selfies' I don't know why, but it seems to me that Bob would sound a bit strange if he said, "Why is it that you have to get going?" in that situation.
Understanding the Context
Why is a just a rather odd wh -word. Its distribution is very limited -- it can only have the word reason as its antecedent, and since it's never the subject it's always deletable. Consequently it behaves strangely, as you and others point out. Why the voiced /z/ won out over the voiceless /s/ is not clear to me.
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Key Insights
Modern French mostly uses /gz/, as in xénophobie, but I don't know the history of how the modern French pronunciation of word-initial x became established. For why' can be idiomatic in certain contexts, but it sounds rather old-fashioned. Googling 'for why' (in quotes) I discovered that there was a single word 'forwhy' in Middle English.