whafforadv.
/hwɒˈfɔː/ colloquial.
‘What for?’; why? for what reason?
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > cause or reason > [adverb] > why, wherefore, or for what reason
for whyc1000
whereofc1175
wheretoa1225
whereforec1230
whereata1325
how1340
wheretilla1400
whereupon1535
wherebya1616
whaffor1922
1922 ‘R. Crompton’ More William (1924) ix. 152 ‘Waffor does it not like me?’ persisted Thomas... ‘Flies don't like people, silly.’ ‘Waffor not?’
1969 P. A. Smith Folklore Austral. Railwaymen 85 The guard saw the fireman climbing the fence to the adjacent paddock. Ask him whaffor! F. said he was going for another shovel.
1982 ‘R. Lewis’ Gathering of Ghosts iv. 112 ‘I'd like to go up and inspect the barn’... ‘Whaffor?’ ‘To be certain nothing's been done to it.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adv.1922