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"That's a great question." is another one that you won't be able to unhear. This Freakonomics podcast was what made me aware of it consciously. https://freakon

• Thorrez 7y ago
  As the blog post points out, "Out of an abundance of caution" is used to hide the truth and harm people's freedom. I don't think "That's a great question" has serious problems like that.
  • philwelch 7y ago
    "That's a great question" is a filler phrase that lets you stall while you're figuring out how to answer the question. It also flatters the asker of the question, so you can kill two birds with one stone.
    • whatshisface 7y ago
      One time I was asked a question while explaining something to a professor. I thought it was a really impressive and insightful question, so I said "that's a great question." I was briefly bewildered when he didn't register my complement, but then I realized...
    • csours 7y ago
      Somebody called me on this last week. The thing is, I really do think it's a good question if I can't immediately answer it!
• pouta 7y ago
  As a non-native speaker, what's the problem of complimenting the question? I genuinely only use it if the question is good enough to get me questioning my self.