The phrase "benign question" is correct and usable in written English.
It is an idiomatic expression used to describe a question that is harmless or non-threatening in nature. For example, "Is dinner ready yet?," is a benign question that is not likely to cause any offense.
But even a seemingly benign question can be difficult for some people to ask.
But Gaudio hinted at the lingering spat when asked a benign question about the differences between himself and Coria during yesterday's news conference.
When he visited the Cedro dorm, on January 30th, the forty or so students gathered around him in the recreation room often asked the kinds of benign question posed to celebrities on TV shows: Did he miss computer science?
And keep in mind just how dangerous even unthreatening questions can be: Mr. Romney caused a huge stir in July with a simple — and factual — answer to a benign question about the London Olympics.
When I asked her a benign question about what she'd learned working for the Administration, she said, half-jokingly, that she had no concise answer "other than 'Don't trust the press.' " If she doesn't like a question, she squints, pauses, and then parses it into as gentle a query as possible.
The seemingly benign question made my stomach churn.
Mr. Grey coolly fielded benign questions from a deferential prosecutor.
His interrogating style was a sequence of apparently benign questions followed by a sudden ambush.
One group was invited to initiate discussions, while the other followed up with hopelessly benign questions.
I asked benign questions and searched for records that allowed information to seep out about customs, household rituals, job patterns, prayers.
Curiously, Williams deflected and dodged mostly benign questions when meeting with reporters; at one point, he challenged a reporter's premise that Williams and Derek Jeter were friends, asking, "How do you know that?" Outfielder Darren Bragg was designated for assignment to make room for Williams.
