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Reader question: Please explain “trick question” in the following passage: In his news conference yesterday he refused to promise we’d have fewer troops in Iraq this time next year. “Because,” he said, “that’s a trick question.” My comments: A trick is something you do in order to deceive someone. For example, you pretend to be ill, but it was just a trick – so that you may skip school or work. A trick question is a question that’s tricky (deceptive), a question asked in such a way that it easily misleads the person being questioned to a wrong answer. In the top example, the person in question cannot promise a definite reduction of troops in Iraq because nobody knows what might happen this time next year. If he promised, he could look silly in twelve months’ time if there would be an escalation of fighting which, in turn, would require a greater number of troops. Sometimes there is simply no good answer to a trick question. The classic example of a trick question is the one the lawyer raises for the defendant: “Have you stopped beating your wife? Answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’?” The defendant finds himself in a double bind, i.e. a no win situation. If he answers “Yes” it would imply that he did beat his wife some time in the past even though he’s stopped doing it now. If he answers “No”, of course, it implies he’s still a victim of domestic violence. | 
