The world is so touchy now. You have to be politically correct in order to converse. However, some people always want to take it to another level by demanding you accept their words without explanation, so if you ask a question you are doomed, but rest assured there is a reason for that.
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Easily Offended By Someone Asking A Question? (Hover)
Restoring sanity to human discourse begins with honesty to yourself and to others. There are only two good reason to ask a question: 1) to gain information you don't have and genuinely want or need, 2) as a pedagogical method to get someone else to think.
People will justifiably get annoyed at you for #1 if it's something you could have easily researched yourself and they are not an acknowledged expert. People will get angry with you at #2 if you're just using it as a method to demonstrate your own superiority of knowledge. Empathy is the key. You don't have to walk on eggshells and worry about being P.C. If you just ask yourself, "How would this question sound to me, if someone else asked it."
This situation arises mostly when the person is in some kind of authority and you are like a student or employee. When you ask a question you can see their face turn suspicious like "What are you up to by asking me that?" or "How dare you ask me that!"
In such a case the student or employee is likely questioning the judgment of the authority figure. Which might be warranted but you have to understand will make most people at least temporarily defensive. Allow them a normal human reaction and the conversation will likely become productive.