Begging
Can I have a quarter every time I hear someone say “___ begs the question” when they mean “____ raises the question”? Please? Could one of the candidates please put that into their outrageous spending plans?
I am afraid that the phrase “begging the question” might have already turned the corner in language development. I think descriptive grammar is true, though I wish prescriptive were — poor language!
Clarification: “begging the question” is a logical fallacy wherein you base your conclusion on something that needs to be proved as much as your original proposition. Fowler’s example is “democracy must be the best form of government because the majority are always right.” So this works:
Candidate: “Democracy must be the best form of government because the majority is always right!”
(The candidate would view the majority as a single mass entity, not a plural of individuals as Fowler interprets it)
Pundit: “Sir, you are begging the question. Who says the majority is always right?”
This does not work:
Candidate: “Democracy must be the best form of government because the majority is always right!”
Pundit: “Well, this begs the question: Is the majority always right when 40% of registered voters are fraudulent?”
95% I see or hear “begs the question” it should be replaced with “Well, then, let me ask you.”
And the other day on the radio — and it was not a caller, though I can’t remember who it was — I heard “This begs the answer!” I have no idea what he meant.
begs
verb, trans.
3.
1. To evade; dodge: a speech that begged the real issues.
2. To take for granted without proof: beg the point in a dispute.
I don’t think it’s etymologically correct, but I have always thought it similar to saying “You have just beggared your question.”
tr.v. beg·gared, beg·gar·ing, beg·gars
- To make a beggar of; impoverish.
- To exceed the limits, resources, or capabilities of: beauty that beggars description.
What this world needs is more classical schools…..that’s pretty much my conclusion to the matter….
