Nyororin, it's the recognition that this whippersnapper is following the paths we took when we were foolish youths ourselves (asking "why" when we should be asking "how"). Perhaps a little self loathing on my part...

Also the responses of inno came off a bit snooty. That's why I responded the way I did. Advice was given, and inno's response was akin toNevermind that I have a degree in abstract math, arguably the most "why"-ridden field in the world. ;)

No, I had never meant that. I just said that it's always in my nature is constantly ask why. Did you read my previous post about 少し? I'm not gonna keep quiet about that, I have to know why to understand it; I won't walk into the test just guessing when to use it.

Snooty? It's rare that I ever get a laugh out of forum posts, but in this case I did. If you want snooty you should talk to some of my fellow students. I am very modest and keep to myself, rather than many (and trust me, there is a lot of these people of type) of these idiots that blabbers that they got a 92 as opposed to their friends 91 on some meaningless quiz or etc. Perhaps you have dealt with many of these people as have I and it is in your nature to assume that most will be like that; I can understand that, as I do the same thing too, but text does not display the emotion as voice does. Whether it'd be abstract math, physics, chemistry, etc, all of these fields share the "why" perspective, but it to each person when to apply it (in this scenerio, language).

Whippersnapper? Please. I use that term comically at times, but for the "foolish youth" that term amounts to an automatic "lets ignore this crazy old guy".

I don`t blame him for his reaction, quite honestly. He asked a sensible question and received the type of response usually reserved for "Japanese makes no sense" types. I mean, if you`ve been told that two words have pretty much the same meaning I think it`s only natural to want to know the differences so you can use them properly. There are rules in language - you can actually ask "Why?" in a lot of places and have it be the best way to get the answer you need. It would be like asking "Why do I say two here and twice there?" - that CAN be answered by pointing out the difference in meaning between the two words. As long as you answer the why within the language it isn`t a problem. It is only an issue when it becomes "Why do people there say this when in English it`s this way?!" ... Which is something that did not happen anywhere in this thread. :rolleyes:

Thank you Nyororin for saying exactly what I was trying to get at. I would never ask such silly questions like "Why do people there say this when in English it`s this way?!", those type of questions really irk me because it just is, no explanation needed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking "why" as long you are in the boundaries that you specific above.

I should not have assumed anything. I'm sorry, inno.

In any case, welcome to JF. I hope you enjoy your stay, even from old 25-year-old geezers like me. ;)

Now I need to go to bed. I've got review for the bar exam tomorrow morning. :(