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by kevingadd 4666 days ago
"Why are you so angry" in native English is not a question; it's a question tied to an implication.

The question implies that the person being asked the question is angry. Most answers involve accepting the implication as correct.

The stereotypical example used to demonstrate this in English is probably 'have you stopped beating your wife'. 'Yes' implies that you have a wife and you used to beat her; 'No' implies that you have a wife and you still beat her.

Structuring questions this way is a bad idea because it puts the person you're asking on edge. It's also just kind of a shady way to use the English language. (Nothing against people who aren't familiar with this particular nuance, of course)

1 comments

I'm aware of it being tied to an implication, but I don't agree with you that "why are you so angry?" is in the same category as the example you gave ("have you stopped beating your wife").

In my view, if I ask you "why are you so angry?" I perceive you as being angry.

> In my view, if I ask you "why are you so angry?" I perceive you as being angry.

If you want to ask a question about the reason for the facts on which you make that inference without telling someone how they feel, you ask the question about the reason for the facts, rather than asking them to explain a mental state that you have inferred about them.

Again, I'm not a native speaker of English, but the obvious way to ask you for the reasons that make you angry is to ask you: "Why are you so angry?" I'm still learning English and would appreciate if you would be kind and teach me an alternative way to ask that question.
The problem is not with the way of asking the question.

The problem is with the assumption about the other person's feelings underlying the premise of the question.