boomerask

present singular third person boomerasks · participle present boomerasking · participle past boomerasked · past boomerasked

1. informalintransitiveneologismTo ask someone a question, without really being interested in the answer, because the asker really just wanted to answer it themselves immediately after (and share an anecdote or story).

   However, before you judge someone for it — you've most likely boomerasked in a conversation, too.

   2025 March 26, Fabiana Buontempo, “'Boomerasking' is how self-centered people are hijacking conversations”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2025

   1 more example

   We introduce one pervasive way people attempt to reconcile these competing goals—boomerasking—a sequence in which individuals first pose a question to their conversation partner ("How was your weekend?"), let their partner answer, and then answer the question themselves ("Mine was amazing!"). The boomerask starts with someone asking a question, but—like a boomerang—the question returns quickly to its source.

   2025 January 9, Alison Wood Brooks, Michael Yeomans, “Boomerasking: Answering Your Own Questions”, in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, volume 154, number 3, Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 864

plural boomerasks

1. neologismAn act or instance of boomerasking.

   Things really came to a head at 11-plus exam time, with loaded boomerasks about what school we were going to next, so that my fellow parent could tell me that they were trying to make the agonising choice between all the five million schools they'd had slobbering offers from.

   2025 January 23, Esther Walker, “Boomerasking is the new way to show off. Spare me”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Jan 2025