rhetorical question
Sign in to saveAlso known as non-question, pseudo-question, just asking questions, JAQing off, concern trolling
figure of speech in the form of a question, asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A rhetorical question is a question asked for a purpose other than to obtain information. In many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, as a means of displaying or emphasizing the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic. A simple example is the question "Can't you do anything right?" This question is not intended to request a response about the listener's competence but rather to insinuate their lack of it. In many instances, rhetorical questions serve as a literary device with the purpose of persuading an audience or making them reflect on a topic.
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Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “rhetorical question” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.