Why is this the answer?

The answer is cold because this is a wonderful word puzzle that tricks your brain! The riddle uses one simple word, "catch," in two different ways to make us think of the wrong answer. First, let's think about the part where you "catch" something. When you are playing outside, you might catch a ball, a Frisbee, or a stuffed animal. These are all things you can grab with your hands. Because you can catch them, they are objects that you can also throw. The riddle makes you imagine these kinds of physical objects first. But the answer, cold, is not something you can grab! You can't catch the feeling of cold weather with your hands, and you certainly can't catch a sickness and put it in a box. The riddle is actually talking about getting sick. We use the phrase "catching a cold" to mean getting a cough, a runny nose, and maybe a fever. It's not like catching a ball. It's your body reacting to tiny germs. When you catch a cold, you start to feel chilly and unwell. That is the first part of the riddle solved: you can "catch" a cold, meaning you become sick after being near germs. Now, let's look at the second part: "but not throw." When you catch a ball, you can easily turn around and throw it back to your friend. But can you throw a cold? No, you can't! You can't pick up the sickness and toss it away. The key to solving this is understanding that a cold is a state of being or a sickness, not a physical object you can hold and toss. The only way you "throw" a cold is if you are sneezing or coughing and accidentally share those germs with someone else, but the riddle is talking about the physical action of throwing something with your hand. A cold is a sickness, a feeling inside your body. It is not an object, so you cannot physically throw it like you would throw a ball. The riddle works because we use the same word, "catch," for grabbing a ball and for getting sick. Isn't that neat how language can play tricks on us? The word "cold" fits perfectly. You can catch a cold from a friend, but once you have it, there is no way to throw it away. You just have to rest and wait for your body to feel better!