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used when you are saying something that you think other people may not like This famous novel is a little, dare I say it, dull. https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/dare-i-say-it

Is this a conditional inversion of auxiliary and subject, as in had I (not) known ?

GJC
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  • Dare I say is asking for permission, like May I or Do I dare? – Yosef Baskin Sep 10 '20 at 17:27
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    Yes, this use of dare is semi-modal. May I go? / Can you come? ? Dare I say it? / Need I stay? / Ought I to speak? ... Modals and semi-modals invert to form interrogatives (as here). 'Dare I say it(?)' is obviously a parenthetical (and including the question mark awkward), a hedging Rhetorical question. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 10 '20 at 18:36

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