# Is there a name for the annoying habit some people have of not answering questions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-annoying-habit-some-people-have-of-not-answering-questions/763241 "2016-08-18T23:36:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-annoying-habit-some-people-have-of-not-answering-questions/763241/81 "2016-08-25T21:27:57Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > Its call “men” > > or actually husbands > [@E-DUB](#): > > My wife does this all the time. Your wife is a husband? :eek: > [@even\_sven](#): > > Your friends and acquaintances aren’t your personal dictionary fetchers. You must not have nice friends. I’ve been at friends places and asked if they had a dictionary\* and they would get up and go to their shelf and hand it to me. \*dictionary is a stand in for pretty much anything. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-annoying-habit-some-people-have-of-not-answering-questions/763241/82 "2016-08-25T22:29:12Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > You must not have nice friends. I’ve been at friends places and asked if they had a dictionary\* and they would get up and go to their shelf and hand it to me. “Bitch, I just asked if you have a dictionary. Don’t fucking get up and hand it to me. What IS it with people?!” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-annoying-habit-some-people-have-of-not-answering-questions/763241/83 "2016-08-30T21:06:29Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Someone close to me comes from a culture where direct questions are rude and answers are expected to be rambling, and this person finds it almost impossible to ask or answer simply. Japanese? I read something once that the Japanese habit of “talking around the subject” evolved out of living in houses where the “rooms” were separated by paper walls/partitions. Those walls made it impossible to _not_ overhear what somebody in the next “room” was saying, so people got into the habit of not speaking directly. It provided a “polite fiction” that allowed them to deny saying something, should somebody be so rude as to ask about something overheard through the wall. And of course, the rude asker would not _ask_ directly, because that would be admitting to eavesdropping. Being indirect saved face all around. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-annoying-habit-some-people-have-of-not-answering-questions/763241/84 "2016-08-30T21:15:26Z")
I think I have it, it’s called _boning the question_. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-annoying-habit-some-people-have-of-not-answering-questions/763241/85 "2016-08-30T22:24:31Z")
Sometimes I’ll go on literal jags and answer what I consider yes or no questions with a simple “yes” or “no”. Sadly, very often the questioner will seem unsatisfied with the answer. Yet, a “yes, I do.” or “no, I don’t” will satisfy them. When I was in the service, an acceptable answer to a perceived nosy question like “What time did you wake up on Saturday?” would be “That’s a personal question.” which was the correct way of telling someone “That’s none of your fucking business.” And as for answers to direct questions that ramble on about automotive difficulties, trips to the store, and family matters, we’d say “That sounds like a personal problem.” Sometimes, we’d add “Would you like a chit to see the Chaplain?” which was the correct way of saying “I don’t care.” with the optional “Tell someone who gives a shit.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-the-annoying-habit-some-people-have-of-not-answering-questions/763241.md?page=4)