Can you answer these baffling questions?

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening ATS.

I propose a challenge to you, and it's not a telepathic battle to the death via webcam, It's more of challenge of the mind. I recently watched a rerun of Everybody loves Raymond and Rays' father posed a trivial question "who invented the lawn?" and it made me think about some of the baffling questions that someone like myself would ask. No googling here folks, try using your grey matter for these brain strainers...

1) Why do people have a favorite color?

I'm an Obsidian person myself (purists will say it's a hue not a color) but what determines our favorite color? Is it because our brain likes what are eyes are looking at when we are old enough to see?

2) Why do we make the 'right choice' instead of the 'left choice?'

When someone tells you that you have 'made the right decision' why don't they say 'you've made the left decision' or 'you must do what you think is left.' Did our ancestors hate southpaws?

3) Why does the English language have different meanings for the same word?

Which witch evaded the weather? whether or not she will tie the knot we will not no the answer until spring, when the witch replaces the spring in her clock.

Go figure.

So fellow members...can you find an answer? Use your minds; Not google search.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
2) Why do we make the 'right choice' instead of the 'left choice?

Left has always been considered to be inferior to right, in Italian it is still called 'sinistra' (the sinister side).

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

1, you are gay or straight
,you like chocolate or you don't,
You like blue or you don't,

Brain chemistry.

2, right is refering to correct, not direction.

3, english is a hodpodge of different languages combined to one messy stew.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Thecakeisalie

1, you are gay or straight
,you like chocolate or you don't,
You like blue or you don't,

Brain chemistry.

2, right is refering to correct, not direction.

3, english is a hodpodge of different languages combined to one messy stew.

This answer honestly sums all of these questions up.

Case closed, in my opinion.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

2) Why do we make the 'right choice' instead of the 'left choice?'

reference question #3 ...

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

I see a few of you took a long time to respond...I said no googling.

As for this...

english is a hodpodge of different languages combined to one messy stew.

You nailed it.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
3) Why does the English language have different meanings for the same word?

Which witch evaded the weather? whether or not she will tie the knot we will not no the answer until spring, when the witch replaces the spring in her clock.

Partly because speech is working with a limited number of sounds, which restricts the number of possible combinations and forces them to double up, partly because time frequently changes words which were originally different, and brings them to the same spelling.
WITCH= WICCA
WHICH=HWELC
WEATHER=WEDAR
WHETHER=HWAETHER
KNOT=CNOTTA
NOT=NOUGHT
KNOW (as in "KNOW the answer")=CNAWAN
NO=NA
SPRING is just the one word. Something which leaps up, or causes a leaping up.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

For the same reasons we drive on the Parkway and park on the driveway.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
a reply to: Thecakeisalie

I see a few of you took a long time to respond...I said no googling.

As for this...

english is a hodpodge of different languages combined to one messy stew.

You nailed it.

Why you thought it was such a smart set of questions, that only Google could answer, is beyond me.

No offense.

a reply to: Bluntone22

1, you are gay or straight ,you like chocolate or you don't, You like blue or you don't,

Brain chemistry.

But what part of the brain governs what color you favor? help me out.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
a reply to: Bluntone22

1, you are gay or straight ,you like chocolate or you don't, You like blue or you don't,

Brain chemistry.

But what part of the brain governs what color you favor? help me out.

No clue honestly.
I just know that you can't choose to like red.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

I think the favorite color thing comes from survival.

I'm guessing most people like Red & blue,

red for meat
blue for water?

Don't hear too many people that love brown

I can answer the lawn one.

Rich people started to have lawns to show their wealth.

It was to show they had no need to grow vegetables as most of the land was covered in grass and flowers.

I have a feeling it was a British thing, but I could be wrong.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie

1) Why do people have a favorite color?

Literally *taste*

In the same way some people like sprouts or broccoli and others dont.

But what you like when young is not always what you like as you grow older, infact

what you like is not static but changes through out life, at least that how it seems to

me.

2) Why do we make the 'right choice' instead of the 'left choice?'

Do we make the right choice? OR the correct choice?

When someone tells you that you have 'made the right decision' why don't they say 'you've made the left decision' or 'you must do what you think is left.'

It is in the choice of 'words' it should be .... 'You have made the correct decision'

3) Why does the English language have different meanings for the same word?

The same words but spelled differently? eg.

Witch - which

weather - whether

would - wood

Knot - not

No - know
there - their.............

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

1.) One is just preference. I happen to like purple at the moment, but growing up, I was into blue which I still like very much.

2.) It's down to definitions. In this case, you are talking about right as in correct and not right as in direction or handedness. This is an instance of a homograph.

2.) Now you are talking about homphones, not homographs. What you describe is a homograph - different meanings for the same word which may or may not be pronounced the same. Your example in question 2 was apt -- right hand v. right choice is a homograph. Another homograph would be record. I picked up the record at the store v. I want to record what you say. Or, I gave you a present v. I was present for the event.

However, all the example you gave are homophones which are words that sound the same but are spelled differently -- witch - which; weather - whether - wether; their - there - they're; knot - not; no - know; etc.

Often homophones can be chalked up to different etymology or origins.

a reply to: Nexttimemaybe
I don't know who invented the lawn, but it might have been popularised by the Georgian landscape architect "Capability" Brown.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a
2.) It's down to definitions. In this case, you are talking about right as in correct and not right as in direction or handedness. This is an instance of a homograph.

The etymology of the word 'right', even when used as 'correct', was initially drawn from the right side being the correct side and the left side not so much:

right (adj.2)

The notion of the right hand as the correct hand. Source

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

1. preference is related to experience. if you have more experience that is positive to relate to a certain color, its your favorite color
2. "right" in this case is a synonym, and not indicating "left" as being wrong
3. The english language is a mongrel language impacted by the languages spoken throughout the former empire, on top of starting as an amalgamation of several languages extant in Europe prior to the empire.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

It is still an instance of a homograph.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

The etymology of the word 'right', even when used as 'correct', was initially drawn from the right side being the correct side and the left side not so much:

Lol!! ....just reminded me going back in time left handed children had their left

hands fastened behind their backs to discourage left handedness!! Happened to

an uncle of mine.