boomerask

To 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).

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.

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

An 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.