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A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.
Generally, a rhetorical question seeks to encourage reflection within the listener as to what the answer to the question (at least, the answer implied by the questioner) must be. When a speaker declaims, "How much longer must our people endure this injustice?" or "Will our company grow or shrink?", no formal answer is expected.
If a mother asks, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop walking into the house with mud on your shoes?", she does not want an answer.
Some rhetorical questions become idiomatic English expressions:
- "What's the matter with you?"
- "Don't you know any better?"
- "Have you no shame?"
- "Is the Pope Catholic?"
- "Do fish swim?"
- "Are you crazy?"
- "Who cares?"
- "How should I know?"
Some TV shows have had rhetorical questions as titles, such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Whose Line Is It Anyway?
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