[shun]

Originally Posted by riverkid

It's obvious that both said and says are available to ENLs, Shun. What's your explanation for the difference?
[OR to form a softer, more deferential question]
What would be your explanation for the difference?

My reply: This is why I am asking "Newspaper Time". I don't want to use irony anymore, but I think we cannot choose tense because of feelings, of which there is no objective proof.

I don't think English has invented some tense to display feelings.