210 Questions to Ask Friends (For All Situations)

Whether your goal is to learn something new, deepen the bond with a friend, or just have an interesting conversation, it can be hard to come up with questions to ask your friends.

This article contains over 200 questions to ask friends in different situations. These are the 10 best questions to ask to get to know your friends:[1]

The 10 best questions to ask friends:

1. Would you like to be famous? In what way?
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2. What would be a “perfect” day for you?
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3. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

4. What do you value most in a friendship?
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5. What is your most treasured memory?
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6. What does friendship mean to you?

7. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?
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8. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?
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9. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

10. When did you last cry in front of another person?

These questions are taken from Berkeley University’s 36 Questions for Increasing Closeness.

Questions to ask friends for different situations:

  1. Get to know you questions
  2. Funny questions
  3. Questions for new friends
  4. Best friend questions
  5. Deep questions
  6. Deep questions for your best friend
  7. Questions to ask old school-friends
  8. How well do you know me questions
  9. Personal questions
  10. Weird questions
  11. Trick questions

Questions to ask to get to know your friends better

Here are more questions to help you build closer relationships with your friends.

These questions are best suited for one-on-one situations than groups or high-energy environments.

1. Which app do you use the most on your phone?
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2. Have you ever been in real danger?
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3. Do you cook often?

4. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?
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5. What don’t you do enough of?
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6. Do you get stage fright?

7. How was your first day of school?
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8. Do you often sympathize with the villain?
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9. Are there any websites that you visit daily?

10. Have you ever went on a diet?
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11. When you were a kid, did you look forward to being an adult?
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12. Do you ever risk eating dodgy smelling food that you’re not 100% sure about?

13. What’s the most impressive event you’ve ever attended?
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14. Which meal is the most important one?
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15. Do you prefer to watch a movie alone or with other people?

16. Do you ever participate in the local cultural stuff your city has to offer?
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17. Do you care about updating your phone to a new model often?
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18. What’s your favorite decade of movies?

19. What hobbies are you interested in trying out?
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20. Would you rather get 10 million $ today, or in monthly payments spread out across your lifetime?
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21. What’s the first thing you would look at if you were choosing an apartment to rent?

22. What would be your dream car?
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23. What do you think about old black & white movies?
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24. Do you try to have variety in your diet?

25. Did you ever want to have an exotic or dangerous animal for a pet?
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26. Are you scared of deep waters?
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27. Have you tried a sensory deprivation tank?

28. What’s the best/worst thing about having a smartphone?
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29. What’s your proudest moment in life?
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30. Have you ever experienced the feeling of catharsis?

31. Did you ever have to take care of an old/ill relative?
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32. If you had to go to war, would you rather be on the front lines – fighting, or in the back – doing logistics?
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33. Which armed forces would you join? (Navy, Air Force, etc)

34. Have you gone to a summer camp as a kid?

Click here to read 222 questions to ask to get to know someone.

Funny questions to ask friends when bored

These questions are less serious and meant to be funny. Funny questions for friends usually work better in high-energy environments such as parties.

1. What’s your favorite word?
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2. Did you ever have an annoying friend?
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3. Would you rather always sweat or always cry?

4. What’s the oldest piece of technology you’ve ever used?
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5. What’s the most offensive joke you know?
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6. Which one of us would lose the hardest in a rap battle?

7. What’s the stupidest thing you’d do if you had a week left to live?
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8. You’re stranded on a deserted island, would you pick to have a hot tub or a shower?
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9. What’s one amazing combination of foods that no one knows about except you?

10. In a zombie apocalypse, what kind of weapon would you pick from the things that you have at home?
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11. Was there ever something that you thought was possible after watching some movie as a kid, that is now absolutely ridiculous to think of in retrospect?
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12. Are there any words that annoy you for no reason, that just can’t stand hearing or saying?

13. What kind of food could disappear from the world forever and never be missed?
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14. Do you recall the moment you laughed the hardest in your life?
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15. Would you play Russian roulette with a 5 in 6 chance of becoming ultra-rich and a 1 in 6 chance of dying?

16. Why do people set their favorite song as their ringtone, if it gets annoying after a few days?
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17. What do you feel when you hear someone scraping a fork on their teeth while they’re eating?
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18. How long do you think you’d be okay with eating the same thing every day?

19. Why have a separate word for raisins instead of just calling them dried grapes?
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20. If I turned into a zombie, would you try to keep me around in case a cure appears, or kill me straight away?
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21. Would you fly a jet plane into an erupting volcano… if after dying, you’d immediately come back to life as if nothing happened? You know, just for a new experience…

22. Does peanut butter go on top or the bottom of a peanut butter jelly sandwich?
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23. Have you ever seen a badly behaved pet and wondered… why do they put up with this guy?
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24. Do you ever catch yourself viewing clerks and other people you meet during the day as machines that are there to serve their function only, rather than just seeing them as another person, who is just like you?

25. Do you know any swear words in Latin?

Questions to ask a new friend

These questions to ask a new friend are a bit more formal and not as personal as the type of questions you can ask someone you already know well.

1. Do you actively seek inspiration?
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2. What’s your favorite part of the day?
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3. Did you have a circle of friends in school?

4. Do you prefer staying at home or going out?
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5. Are you involved in any kind of activism?
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6. Do you enjoy creating things?

7. Was it easy for you to choose a career?
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8. What do you enjoy about being out in the nature?
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9. What’s your type of humor?

10. Do you often get sick?
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11. Do you read much?
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12. What other career paths did you consider?

13. Do you see smoking as something cool?
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14. Do you like being in the center of attention?
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15. Are you competitive?

16. What’s your favorite Disney character?
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17. Have you ever went to a festival?
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18. Can you enjoy yourself in extreme weather?

19. Do you like museums?
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20. Do you have a daily routine?
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21. What social media are you on?

22. Are you more comfortable indoors or outdoors?
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23. What kind of news do you keep up with?
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24. Are clowns creepy?

25. Have you seen the new movie that just came out?
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26. Do you enjoy formal parties?
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27. Do you ever just go outside and wander off someplace new?

28. What’s the funniest movie you’ve ever watched?
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29. Would you start doing recreational drugs if they had absolutely no negative side-effects?
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30. Do you get invested in “your team” winning when it comes to the Olympics and other big competitions?

31. What would a perfect vacation look like to you?
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32. Do you know what you want to do with your life?

Questions to ask your best friend

These best friend questions are more personal for someone you are very close with. Make sure to talk to your best friend in a calm environment where you won’t risk getting interrupted while asking these questions.

1. What do you daydream about?
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2. What’s the best food to munch on while watching a movie?
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3. Have you ever seen a trainwreck?

4. What is the most inspiring thing you have seen someone do?
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5. Did you ever consider joining the army?
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6. What’s the first movie you remember watching?

7. Do you miss being a kid?
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8. What’s the most fun you ever had?
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9. Have you ever “broken up” with a friend?

10. What’s the most scared you’ve ever been?
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11. Do you ever want everyone in the world to hear the song you’re listening to?
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12. Is there a country that you visited where you definitely wouldn’t want to live?

13. Have you ever finished a video game/movie and started it right over, then and there?
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14. What’s the biggest party you went to?
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15. Do you think your life story could be made into a good biographical movie?

16. Does your inner voice refer to you as “you” or “I”?
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17. What kind of side job do you think would fit you?
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18. What do you like about traveling?

19. What’s the longest project you ever worked on?
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20. How do you feel about buying and using secondhand items?
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21. Is there a place in your city that you actively avoid?

22. Would you want to go to the gym together with me?
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23. Do you ever catch yourself having a racist thought and have to correct yourself?
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24. Have you ever been disappointed in your idol?

25. Was there ever a moment you were seriously scared thinking that your parents may die?
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26. Do you ever look up your old friends or classmates online?
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27. What kind of stuff do you miss from when you were younger?

28. What’s the longest you went without sleep?

Deep questions to ask your friends

1. What’s the biggest problem in our society?
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2. Would you like to live in a utopian society?
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3. Are there any trends you consciously try to avoid?

4. What’s your relationship with technology?
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5. What do you spend most of your energy on?
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6. Are you aware of any prejudices that you have?

7. Have you ever felt like your world is falling apart?
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8. Would you change the past if you could?
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9. Are violent sports ethical?

10. Are you okay with being alone for long periods of time?
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11. Do you see the beauty in things people don’t normally see it in?
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12. Would you take a 50/50 chance of losing everything you currently have vs becoming wealthy, if all you had to do was push a button?

13. What do you think is the most important thing in maintaining a friendship?
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14. Do you think you should clean up after yourself in a fast food joint if there are employees paid to do that?
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15. Do you think tattoos must have meaning behind them or is it okay to have them simply as a piece of art?

16. Have you ever enjoyed a strong negative emotion?
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17. Is the way you will be buried important to you, or is it up to the people that will have to deal with it?
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18. Is happiness more important than other states?

19. Why do some people enjoy knowing that something they like isn’t popular?
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20. How would you spend your time if you were imprisoned in a room for life but had unlimited options inside of it, except for human contact?
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21. Do you ever wish you were born in another decade?

22. Have you ever lost or thrown away something that had sentimental value attached to it?
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23. What disease scares you the most?
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24. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about the past?

25. Do you enjoy the slow, seemingly empty moments in life?
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26. If you had a serious medical condition and your immediate future depended on it, how easy would it be to give up junk food and all your bad habits forever?
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27. Have you ever forgiven someone, but later thought that you shouldn’t have?

28. What kind of “perfect relationship” would you want with an ideal hypothetical friend that you don’t actually have?
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29. Have you ever looked back at something traumatic and felt glad it happened, because it helped you grow?
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30. What’s the longest time you had to wait for something?

31. What do you think about “an eye for an eye”?

If you want more, this list of deep questions to ask your friends might help give you some great ideas to spark a personal conversation.

Deep questions to ask your best friend

Since these questions are even more intimate, we believe you should only ask them to someone you know very well.

1. How would your life be different if we hadn’t been friends?
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2. Have you ever betrayed anyone?
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3. In which ways are you still the same person you were when you were a kid?

4. Do you think your parents gave preference to you or any of your siblings?
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5. What was the first song that emotionally moved you?
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6. Do you think I know you well? (Follow up: What’s one thing that would make me know you better?)

7. How do you decide on what goals to set for yourself?
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8. How many friends are too many?
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9. Do you want to improve the world you live in?

10. What’s the toughest decision you ever had to make?

If you and your best friend are willing to go even deeper, you might also like to get into some philosophical questions to ask friends.

Questions to ask old school-friends

These questions are good for catching up with someone you haven’t met in a long time.

1. Do you keep in contact with anyone else from school?
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2. What was your least favorite subject in school?
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3. Have you seen any of our old teachers recently?

4. Do you miss school?
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5. Did you move around much since graduation?
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6. Do you ever think about our school days?

7. Did you ever run away from home?
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8. How did you change since the old days?
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9. What’s the stupidest excuse you came up with to stay at home instead of going to school?

10. Is there anything about our school you appreciate now, that you didn’t appreciate before?

How well do you know me-questions for friends

1. What do you think is the most important thing for me?
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2. Do you know when and where I was born?
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3. Do you think I could kill you to save the universe?

4. Am I a shy person?
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5. What am I afraid of?
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6. Which situations do I do well in?

7. Did I like school?
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8. What’s my favorite song?
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9. Who was my first love?

10. Could you name one of the most life-changing events for me?

Personal questions to ask a friend

1. Would you pick burial or cremation?
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2. Are there any politicians that you trust completely?
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3. What keeps you up at night?

4. Are you at ease with any of your weaknesses?
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5. What do you waste time on?
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6. What’s the last good thing you’ve done for someone?

7. Have you ever had a penpal?
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8. Do you relax easily?
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9. Who do you look up to?

10. Do you believe in life after death?

Weird questions to ask your friends

While these questions are strange, they are effective for getting to know someone.

1. Do you bite your tongue or your cheeks more often?
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2. Have you ever eaten paper?
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3. Do you like scars?

4. How often do you clean up your room?
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5. Do you like the taste of blood?
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6. How long can you hold your breath?

7. Do you like peeling off stickers and labels off packaging?
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8. With tattoos being so popular, why don’t people do the same thing to their clothes?
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9. Ever tried putting a bunch of glue on your palm and then peeling it off?

10. What percentage of your shopping time is spent on reading the labels and contents of the food you’re buying?

Trick questions to ask your friends

Let’s finish this article off with some hard and tricky questions to ask your friends. These riddles are sure to stump even your smartest friends!

1. What will never have a satisfying answer? (Answer: This question.)
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2. What kind of key can’t unlock anything yet still works properly? (Answer: Musical key.)
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3. Who’s constantly working at the gym but never gets buff? (Answer: The exercise equipment.)

4. What kind of prison doesn’t need any locks or doors? (Answer: A deep well.)
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5. What comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere? (Answer: This question.)
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6. What kind of computer can do math despite not being plugged into the electricity slot? (Answer: Your brain.)

7. What sounds differently, but is basically the same in its essence? (Answer: Languages.)
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8. A woman said she lost her purse, but it was never found by anyone. How is that possible? (Answer: She lied.)
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9. What’s bigger than 1? (Answer: A bigger one.)

10. Who’s always praying, despite not being religious at all? (Answer: The praying mantis.)

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David Morin is the founder of SocialSelf. He's been writing about social skills since 2012. Follow on Twitter or read more.

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  1. Sup, thanks for the cool questions. I asked these questions to my friend and it left us talking for hours and she never talks so thank you. UwU OwO UwO OwU

    Reply
    • I’m also curiuous.. This might pose a challenge.. But could it be possible to create a similar cheat sheet for joking? Like humor strategies or something.

      Reply
    • Thank you Gabi, glad you like it!

      I’m not sure, I didn’t time it. I did it over a couple of days, so maybe around 10 hours of research, writing, and proof-reading? 🙂

      Reply

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