Let's examine this logicially. First let's define the words. ******************************************************************************* PARKWAY: Dictionary Entry and Meaning Definition: [n] a wide scenic road planted with trees So a parkway is a road planted with trees to resemble a park-like setting. You drive along the parkway to view the scenery. ******************************************************************************* DRIVEWAY: Dictionary Entry and Meaning Definition: [n] a road leading up to a private house A driveway is a road leading up to a private house. So if you don't stop the car and park it you'll hit the house. ******************************************************************************* Hence, we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway. I hope this explains it for you. Definitions came from this site: http://www.hyperdictionary.com

They do that only in America. Elsewhere you drive up the driveway, to get from the street to the house or whatever the building is.

To give standup comics more material? There is probably not a good answer to this question. It's just one of the oddities of the English language. All languages have these humorous and sometimes poetic peculiarities, but I suspect that English, particularly American English, is particularly prone to these, because it is so heavily derivative of other languages.

Besides the previously mentioned stand-up comedians reason, here is the answer from The Straight Dope website: Let's get one thing cleared up right off the bat: you can drive on the driveway. Indeed, if you'll permit me to wax philosophical for a moment, this is the very essence of drivewayness--to enable you to drive from the street to your garage. Moreover, you can park on the parkway, if you're willing to risk the wrath of the law. I don't know that this clarifies things much, but it seemed like a point worth making. I think the crux of the issue, however--I love using words like crux--is the dual meaning of "park." Park in the sense of tended greenery and park in the sense of stowing your vehicle, though deriving from the same root, diverged in meaning long ago. In Old French, a parc was an enclosure. To this day a military park means an area where vehicles are stored and serviced. As early as 1812 there was a verb "to park," meaning to store one's howitzers in a military park. This carried over to carriages and ultimately to any sort of vehicle. Our notion of landscaped parks, meanwhile, derives from the medieval practice of enclosing game preserves for the use of the aristocracy. The term was later applied to the grounds around a country estate, then to royal parks in London to which the proles were grudgingly admitted, and finally to any landscaped public grounds. The idea of enclosure is still evident in expressions like "ball park," for an enclosed playing field. Any more questions, smart stuff? Here is their website http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_080.html

same reason there are hemroids on your ass and asteriods in space

same reason there are hemroids on you A$$ and asteriods in space

That's awesome That's like why is their brail on a drive thru atm machine.

I don't know,but good question! points for you!

In the UK we don't :) We park on driveways and drive on roads.

For the same reason we have Jumbo Shrimp and put cargo on a ship and a shipment on a truck.

I suggest you try to reverse this illogical trend and test your concept. You can contact us from the hospital.

Thats a good question but its making my head hurt! :)

A parkway is named to make reference to parks (central 'park') while a driveway is named to describe 'the portion of one's property intended for the navigation of one's automobile'

We drive on parkways?

because America is backwards ass

Not sure... maybe the answer can justify: Why Interstate Highways are in Hawaii Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes? Why are cigarettes sold in gas stations when smoking is prohibited there? Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing? If you can't drink and drive, why do you need a driver's license to buy liquor, and why do bars have parking lots? If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors? Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM? Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?

During rush hour we actually park on the parkway,and drive to park in our driveways.

the person who came up with these just wanted to mess with us. i hope they are having fun in hell

Yeah, old George Carlin.

Because parkways aree how you get to parks and driveways are how you get up to you house.

You may do that in America, but we Brits are not so crazy.

Ssame as why in Australia you pay a toll on the freeways! Because! That's why....lol

I have no idea... but excellent question!

Because we have a confusing language.

I persoanlly park *on* the driveway, unless it has been partially excavated. In which case I would opt to park on the roadside next to my house. And I drive on the road, not a parkway. But both these points are currently moot, since my car is without engine at this moment in time.

I have never heard of the term "parkway" is it an american thing? I am english and know of roads called parkway but have never heard the term used to describe roads in general!

Probably the same reason we don't put suits in a suitcase,...we put our garmets in em, and we put our suits in a garmet bag..?? Maybe? :)

I don't know but someone is listening to Pete Seegers english is crazy

it is in the Torah.

Because a driveway implies a space to drive where normally there would not be one(i.e. your front yard) whereas a parkway is a place where they saw the need to make a way to drive, but didn't want to strip the area of vegetation to make an EXPRESSWAY, so they pave typically a two-lane road, and dress it up nicely with landscaping to resemble a park.

Plenty of answers are provided here: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/7027

G'day Nene1234, Thank you for your question. I think that it is a subtle intelligence test and that people who park on the parkway end up losing their license. :>) Regards

Parking in your drive way is an efficient utilization of garage space for something other than car storage. In California heavy traffic often makes "parkway" an apt description.

the same reason we call delivery by car a shipment, and delivery by ship is called cargo. go figure. by the way, why is it a hot water heater , you dont need to heat hot water

And why do we drive on a "parkway"?

We also "park" in "parking lots".

The driveway was actually ment for driving for its design. Driveways were first designed to drive by or breeze through the way when driving. Of course, the parking was added in this later in time.

Why do we park in the driveway and drive on the parkway? Driveway and Parkway From what I understand, 'way' means 'road'. So a driveway is a road that you drive on, typically either to the street or your garage. A parkway is a road through or to a park. Usually parkways are landscaped, or beautified, with medians or trees along the edges. Park comes from an old word (parc I think) meaning something enclosed. Generally fancy landscaped areas in the old days were enclosed to keep the riff-raff out, and started being called parks....the name stuck. The military enclosed the places they stored their vehicles (wagons and such, up to modern stuff) and called them 'parks' as well. They began referring to storing their vehicles as 'parking' them. The term started applying to any vehicle sometime around just after the war of 1812 and gained popularity into WW2, and stuck. It just lost the meaning of 'enclosed'. When so many military veterans continued using the phrase when they became civilians, it became standard. Driveways and Parkways This question is not as random as you think. Driveways were initially much longer, leading from the road back to the main house on the property. So initially people really did drive on them. The word parkway was used to describe a well developed thoroughfare, complete with trees, grassy divided medians and other landscaping, thus the "park" in the name. Here are more opinions and answers from other WikiAnswers Contributors: * I think this is a linguistic quirk incorporated into contemporary English as a direct result of an old George Carlin skit. But, I could be wrong. * Partly because English is one of the most free-for-all languages in the world, with fewer rules and more borrowed words than just about any other tongue. Besides the driveway conundrum: 1) The plural of foot is feet, but the plural of boot is boots (beet??), 2) A vegetable farmer is a person whose job is to produce produce, 3) Your nose can run and your feet can smell, 4) "In action" and "inaction" are opposites, 5) You can be overwhelmed, but not whelmed, 6) "Plague" has one syllable but "ague" has two, 7) "ghoti" can be pronounced "fish" (see George Bernard Shaw), 8) "ough" has at least five different pronunciations, 9) its, hers, yours, ours and theirs are the only possessives that do NOT take apostrophes and on and on and on. Answer We will understand this when we figure out why Frosted Flakes have frosting, but pitted prunes DON'T have pits...

Whats a parkway?

lol

Because I love duplicate questions!! http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/7027

From: http://iclubs.iagora.com/teachenglish/lb_text.html::library_id=4139 "....English is a confusing language To all my English speaking friends! Let's face it: English is a confusing language There is no egg in the eggplant, no ham in the hamburger and neither pine nor apple in the pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England; French fries were not invented in France. We sometimes take English for granted. But if we examine its paradoxes we find that, Quicksand takes you down slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig If writers write, How come fingers don't fing? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth? If the teacher taught, why didn't the preacher praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what the heck does a humanitarian eat? Why do people recite at a play, yet play at a recital? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down and in which you fill in a form by filling it out and a bell is only heard once it goes! English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which of course is not a race at all). That is why when the stars are out they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a race-car not called a racist? Why are wisemen and wise guys opposites? Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things? If horrific means to make horrible doesn't terrific mean to make terrible? Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one? If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed? If you take an oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented? If people from Poland are called "Poles", why aren't people from Holland "Holes"? And why is it that when I wind up my watch it starts but when I wind up this story ends? Now, have a good day! "

I can't anymore because my car turned into a driveway.

you have a difficult dilemma here to work out dear DillaDolla26. i am guessing that the drive way suggests you drive onto the drive but i do not understand what you mean by park way???? i am from england we do not call it that here.

sexy isnt it

Aye, quite the conundrum you pose there. It's one of life's riddles that we may never understand. It certainly does defy all sense and logic.

lol! I park in my drive way!

Lack of common sense w/ someone.

Why are apartments called such when they are so close together? The world may never know.

Why are you Screaming in all CAPS?

Duplicate. See this http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/7027

haha. That's just one of the eccentricies of our enshrined english language. We also fill in forms by filling them out.

beacuse you can drive to a parkway

We drive on a parkway and park on a driveway, because that's what they're designed for. Duh!

because the english language wasn't designed to be easy. in fact, it wasn't designed at all.

Because the dove dove into the bushes.

Why is there a West Florida Republic Parkway (in Louisiana) but no West Florida Republic?

Yes; I saw the George Wallace comedy act too ... LOL ... BUT; you drive into the driveway ... so in a vague sense of the term , you DO "Drive" on it .... Now; the parkway ... IF you have a flat tire or the car breaks dow ... ya' got to PARK on it and it is then your Parkway ... hey; that is the best I can come up with ... have a GREAT one !!

Because i'm Batman. :3

Oh I've driven on drive ways, but not for long. And when I park on parkways the cops usually give me such a hassle.

The same reason asteroids are in space and hemmoroids are in..........well, you get the picture

It's a complete mystery.

Why is there an Interstate highway in Hawaii???

Yes, indeed, why is that!?? a very thought provoking question! I’ve no idea!!!!

well thats like Iceland and Greenland. Greenland is covered in snow and ice and Iceland is green and pretty. it was to confuse the people buying the land. lol. so there must be some kind of reason.

Why are all your questions tired duplicates?

same reason your feet smell and your nose runs

Ever since that whole Renaissance thing we've just had trouble getting both cylinders to fire! Send linguists, mechanics, and love!

I think this is a linguistic quirk incorporated into contemporary English as a direct result of an old George Carlin skit. Partly because English is one of the most free-for-all languages in the world, with fewer rules and more borrowed words than just about any other tongue. Besides the driveway conundrum: 1) The plural of foot is feet, but the... Read more plural of boot is boots (beet??), 2) A vegetable farmer is a person whose job is to produce produce, 3) Your nose can run and your feet can smell, 4) "In action" and "inaction" are opposites, 5) You can be overwhelmed, but not whelmed, 6) "Plague" has one syllable but "ague" has two, 7) "ghoti" can be pronounced "fish" (see George Bernard Shaw), 8) "ough" has at least five different pronunciations, 9) its, hers, yours, ours and theirs are the only possessives that do NOT take apostrophes and on and on and on.

Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii? Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes? Why are cigarettes sold in gas stations when smoking is prohibited there? Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing? If you can't drink and drive, why do you need a driver's license to buy liquor, and why do bars have parking lots? Do you need a silencer if you are going to shoot a mime? Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations? How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings? If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors? If a cow laughed real hard, would milk come out her nose? If nothing ever sticks to Teflon, how do they make Teflon stick to the pan? If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what would happen? If you're in a vehicle going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights? Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM? Why isn't "palindrome" spelled the same way backwards as it is forwards? Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo? If a black box in a plane is indestructible, why can't they make the whole plane out of it? Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio? Why is it so hard to remember how to spell 'mnemonic'? If someone invented instant water, what would they mix it with? Why is it called a TV "set" when you only get one? Why does your nose run and your feet smell? Why does an alarm clock "go off" when it begins ringing? If pro is the opposite of con, is progress the opposite of congress? Why does "cleave" mean both split apart and stick together? Why is it, whether you sit up or sit down, the result is the same? Why is there an expiry date on my sour cream container? Why call it a building if it's already been built? Why do kamikaze pilots wear helmets? How do you know when it's time to tune your bagpipes? Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny? Does 'virgin wool' come from sheep the shepherd hasn't caught yet? If the front of your car says 'DODGE', do you really need a horn? What do sheep count when they can't get to sleep? When you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? Does fuzzy logic tickle? Do blind Eskimos heave seeing-eye sled dogs? Do they have reserved parking for non-handicap people at the Special Olympics? How come wrong numbers are never busy? Do radioactive cats have 18 half-lives? Why call it "take" a dump, when you leave something behind? What was the best thing before sliced bread? Why do we call it a hot water heater if the water is already hot? If you throw a cat out a car window does it become kitty litter? If corn oil comes from corn, where does baby oil come from? If there is no God, who pops up the next Kleenex in the box? How do they get a deer to cross at that yellow road sign? If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them? Is there another word for thesaurus? Is the color orange called that because it's the color of the fruit of the same name, or was the fruit called orange because that's its color? Which came first, the color or the fruit? After eating, do amphibians have to wait one hour before getting out of the water? How can there be self-help "groups"? If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi? If a mute swears, does his mother make him wash his hands with soap? If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation? Instead of talking to your plants, if you yelled at them would they still grow, but only to be troubled and insecure? Is there another word for synonym? Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"? Just before someone gets nervous, do they experience cocoons in their stomach? It is hard to understand how a cemetery raised its burial cost and blamed it on the cost of living. If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? Why is a pear called a pear when there is only one? What do they pack Styrofoam in? Why did God give men nipples? Is grass really greener on the other side? Do boxer shorts box? Why do you wear a pair of panties and only one bra? Why don't sheep shrink when it rains? Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together? Why is it called a "near miss" when you don't hit something? When sign makers go on strike, is there anything written on their signs? Before the light bulb was invented, what appeared over peoples heads when they had an idea? If you spin an Oriental person around and around, does he become disorientated? If a vegetable goes into a coma, is it called a person? If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done? 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If ATM stands for Automatic Teller Machine, why do we call it an ATM machine? And if PIN stands for Personal Identification Number, why do we call it a PIN number? +5