whies and wherefores

singular why and wherefore

1. pluralplural normallyrareRare spelling of whys and wherefores.

   4 more examples

   How such one sided superficial testimony can have so much influence with an intelligent court is beyond the common comprehension. A case in point, decided a few years ago, was in which a professional expert, “a civil and mechanical engineer” professed to be “posted” in “the whies and wherefores” of all things, especially, just then, of turbine wheels and the intricacies of their construction, having “studied considerably on the action of” the same, “and how the water acts upon them, having read various books on the subject, commencing with the first turbine nearly thirty years ago.”

   1883 August 25, H. Dynamicus [pseudonym], “Patent Experts”, in Scientific American […], volume XLIX, number 8, New York, N.Y., →ISSN, →OCLC, “Correspondence” section, page 117, column 1

   The working underwriter, like the working engineer and the practical builder, cannot have the scientific education, the experience or the time to dig into the whies and wherefores of each established figure applying to each separate condition, and must have a schedule that gives results, without arguments or reasons, which can be applied directly and intelligently.

   1903, Insurance Sun, volume XV, San Francisco, Calif.: Insurance Sun Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 594, column 1

   One consequence of this belief is that successful innovations cannot receive any simple explanation and above all, cannot be steered. Each concrete case has specific characteristics, and although the whies and wherefores of success or failure may be explained afterward, a forehand definition of the prerequisites for controlling the process is impossible.

   1992, Roland Treillon, translated by Helen Arnold, “Rural Agrobusiness Projects: Managing Their Implementation”, in Rural Agrobusiness (Children in the Tropics: Review of the International Children’s Centre; 199–200), →ISSN, →OCLC, page 62

   There is no single all-purpose programme; the first thing to do is to work with the population at analysing its behaviour, understanding the whies and wherefores of any given act, and its consequences; then, later on, an attempt is made, in collaboration with the families involved, to work out possible improvements.

   1993, Jacques Fricker, translated by Helen Arnold, “Conclusion”, in Putting an End to Diarrhoeal Diseases (Children in the Tropics: Review of the International Children’s Centre; 204), Paris: International Children’s Centre, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 52