May I ask you a question? Why do people ask this? When do you ever get a negative response to this question? Just ask the question already.
Now, if someone were to inquire …May I ask you a personal question? …well now, that is a horse of a different color.
Agreed…
But I am guilty of the first. I use it a lot when I talk to Mitch. If I ask him a question, I want to be sure that he is listening to me.
I never thought of that. Huh.
If I say that I think I am signaling that I am serious about the topic. Never really thought about it though, there are so many things we could question like that!