# Word for someone who asks questions that wouldn't occur to most people **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104 "2017-03-26T22:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/21 "2017-03-28T16:37:35Z")
Genius, as in thinking outside the box. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/22 "2017-03-28T17:14:05Z")
Ingenuous? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/23 "2017-03-29T20:07:53Z")
Meta? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/24 "2017-03-29T20:09:02Z")
“Awkward” is how I like to describe myself when exhibiting this characteristic. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > I included a grinning emoji, so it’s not as if I didn’t make it clear. Maybe, but many autistic people aren’t good at reading facial expressions. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/25 "2017-03-30T17:44:09Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > a word that can be used to describe someone who makes observations about the world or asks seemingly simple questions that wouldn’t occur to most of us Well, whoever comes up with the word will have demonstrated the word in the coming-upedness of it, and will cause a paradigm shift, because we will all then know a word for that concept. I submit insightful, perspicacious, sagacious, astute, or profound ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/26 "2017-03-30T18:31:52Z")
Pain-in-the-ass? We’ve all had those guys in our class that wouldn’t shut up and asked the stupidest questions. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/27 "2017-03-31T02:20:42Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I looked up your posting history, I think you ask great questions! So you would call him a…? Maybe a reverse dictionary can help?: > **[OneLook Thesaurus](https://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml)** > > A powerful English thesaurus and brainstorming tool that lets you describe what you're looking for in plain terms. It gives you hundreds of related words to choose from and lets you narrow down the list with several advanced features. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/28 "2017-04-01T17:29:56Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > I came across (and forgot) a word that can be used to describe someone who makes observations about the world or asks seemingly simple questions that wouldn’t occur to most of us because they relate to things that we take for granted. Comics that do that are called ‘observational’ – as soon as I read your post, Jerry Seinfeld was the name that popped into my head. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/29 "2017-04-01T17:41:45Z")
Other kinds of people that might ask such questions are skeptics. One oft-repeated tenet of skepticism is that you should question everything, and don’t take anything for granted, including your own most cherished beliefs. It’s more of asking “I or other people believe this, but Is this really true?”. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104/30 "2017-04-01T17:58:37Z")
Doper? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-someone-who-asks-questions-that-wouldnt-occur-to-most-people/783104.md?page=1)