# Why me (of all people)?



## Encolpius

Hello, English does not use the phrase (??) which is used by Hungarians, Czechs or Germans. We use: why + right + me. One of the contexts is if someone is diagnosed with something serious, he/she says: Why me? What idiom would you use in your language? _*Is the German phrase possible? *_Thanks. 

*German*: Warum *gerade *ich? [why+right+me]
*Hungarian*: Miért *pont *én? [why+right+me]
*Czech*: Proč *zrovna *já? [the same]


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## Zio Gilito

Do English people really say "Why me?"? It sounds just too verbatim for me, since in Spanish is sort of the same: "¿Por qué yo?" ("Why I?")


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## Orlin

In Bulgarian: Защо (точно) аз? - Why (right/exactly) I?


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
«Γιατί _παρακαλώ_ εμένα;»
ʝa'ti _paraka'lo_ e'mena?
lit. "why, _please [tell me/explain to me]_, me?"

[ʝ] is a voiced palatal fricative


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## jazyk

In Portuguese: Por que (Br.)/Porque (Pt.) (logo) eu? Por que (Br.)/Porque (Pt.) isso foi acontecer (logo) comigo?


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## Encolpius

@ apmoy: That's a very interesting phrase!! I wonder if it exists in other languages, too.
@ jazyk: Now I bet it exists in all Romance langauges.


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## Rallino

In *Turkish*:

Neden / Niye / Niçin (sadece) ben? [Why (only) me?]


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## Outsider

jazyk said:


> In Portuguese: Por que (Br.)/Porquê (Pt.) (logo) eu? Por que (Br.)/Porque (Pt.) isso foi acontecer (logo) comigo?


One can indeed say _Porquê logo eu?_, "Why right me?", but I think the most common way to say it is a simple _Porquê eu?_


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## Volcano

*In Turkish also,

Niye hep ben? Niye şimdi ben?*


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*: _Miksi juuri minä?_ Why just me? (Perché proprio io?)


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## Encolpius

sakvaka said:


> *Finnish*: _Miksi juuri minä?_ Why just me? (Perché proprio io?)



I think it is Perché proprio io.  But let's wait for natives. (I bet we will wait for ages.)


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## sakvaka

Encolpius said:


> I think it is Perché proprio io.  But let's wait for natives. (I bet we will wait for ages.)



Yes, even though I only posted the Italian phrase to help understand the Finnish sentence.  _Just_ can mean both "exactly, proprio" and "only, solo".


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## Saluton

*Russian*: Почему (именно) я? (Pochem*u* *i*menno ya?, why (exactly) I)


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## Tjahzi

*Swedish:* Varför (just) jag/mig.


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## Orlin

Saluton said:


> *Russian*: Почему (именно) я? (Pochem*u* *i*menno ya?, why (exactly) I)


 
In Bulgarian it's also possible to say "Защо именно аз?", but it's less common.


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## Masjeen

kuwaiti: eishmana anna اشمعنى أنا Why me exactly


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## Angel.Aura

In *Italian*:


sakvaka said:


> Perché (proprio) io?





Encolpius said:


> I think it is Perché proprio io?  But let's wait for natives. (I bet we will wait for ages.)


Why the hurry?


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## Grop

French: _Pourquoi moi ?_


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## ThomasK

In Dutch:* 'Waarom ik ?'* (nothing else, nothing emotional... ;-))


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## HUMBERT0

Two frases in Spanish come to mind for *Why me?* ¿Por qué *a mí*? and ¿Por qué *yo*?, but there not exactly the same in Spanish.
A + mi = to + me, as in Why did it happen to me?
Yo=me , as in Why me?

¿Por qué a mí? (Why to me?). It’s the short versión of ¿Por qué [me pasó/sucedió/aconteció/ocurrió/etc.] a mi? - Why [did it happened to] me?

There's also ¿Por qué yo? (Why me?), but we use it in cases when we ask why was I chosen/picked.
Tu vas a ir a hablar con el director. Pero, ¿por qué yo? – You’re gonna go talk to the Principal. But, Why me?


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## revvok

apmoy70 said:


> In Greek:
> «Γιατί _παρακαλώ_ εμένα;»
> ʝa'ti _paraka'lo_ e'mena?
> lit. "why, _please [tell me/explain to me]_, me?"
> 
> [ʝ] is a voiced palatal fricative



"Parakalo" (παρακαλώ) is not essential here...

The most common is to say just :
"Γιατί εμένα;" 
"giati emena?"

,which is exactly "why me?"


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## Δημήτρης

apmoy70 said:


> In Greek:
> «Γιατί _παρακαλώ_ εμένα;»
> ʝa'ti _paraka'lo_ e'mena?
> lit. "why, _please [tell me/explain to me]_, me?"
> 
> [ʝ] is a voiced palatal fricative





> "Parakalo" (παρακαλώ) is not essential here...
> 
> The most common is to say just :
> "Γιατί εμένα;"
> "giati emena?"
> 
> ,which is exactly "why me?"


Or 
«(Μα) γιατί _σε_ εμένα;»
(ma) ʝa'ti _se_ e'mena?
(But) why _to_ me?

I think that's even more common.


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## ger4

Encolpius said:


> _*Is the German phrase possible? *_
> 
> *German*: Warum *gerade *ich? [why+right+me]


Yes, that's probably the closest equivalent to 'Why me of all people?' The only alternative I can think of right now is _Warum ausgerechnet ich?_


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## kloie

Serbian
zašto baš ja?


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## bibax

Encolpius said:


> ...
> *Czech*: Proč *zrovna *já? [_why just I_]


This phrase is used very often by the children, with a distinctive intonation.

- Umyj nádobí! _(Wash up the dishes!)_
- *Proč zrovna já? *


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## 810senior

In Japanese: なんで俺が(nande ore ga, why (am) I?), where the verb is already omitted.


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## SuperXW

In Chinese (simplified, Mandarin):
为什么是我？ "Why is me?"
为什么偏偏是我？ "Why particularly is me?"
为什么居然是我？ "Why unexpectedly is me?"
怎么是我？ "How is me?"
怎么偏偏是我？ "How particularly is me?"
怎么居然是我？ "How unexpectedly is me?"


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