Can I ask you a question?

"Can I ask you a question?' is perhaps the most common, the most widely used and abused trick question of all time, strutting its stuff all over the world, plaguing people in every possible language, probably in sign too. And inevitably, this question comes when you're hard-pressed for time, patience, solitude etc etc, all of which definitely make the question a pain in every possible orifice in the human body including the pores on your skin.

Two of the most common responses to the question are almost equally trite.

The resigned will say, "Yeah sure," while they're actually cursing everything from the person, to the pavement to the fates.

The cocky ones will say, "You already did, but you can ask me another," mentally patting themselves on the back and preening because they feel they've got some of their own back.