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+--- Thread: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? (/showthread.php?tid=205313)
This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - Dennis S - 05-26-2017
I haven't heard the phrase used correctly in a couple of years or more. Yet, I've heard it used wrong ("This begs the question: who did it?") lots of times. It's been used incorrectly on National Geographic shows, Nova, Frontline, PBS and in magazine articles several times that I've noticed.
Here's a link to the correct usage:
https://www.google.com/search?q=begging+the+question&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - Yoyodyne ArtWorks - 05-26-2017
Yes, it is truly dead. I've seen professional writers and journalists misuse it all the time.
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - OWC Jamie - 05-26-2017
Isn't it great that American English is a living language which is used extensively outside of a Harvard Language Lab, by many for whom english is not a primary language.
Isn't diversity great ?
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - $tevie - 05-26-2017
I am going to have to count myself among the people who use it incorrectly. I've always thought it meant that the statement one made could be challenged by a question. Like, say, I believe that Noah's ark is real, and you say "that begs the question, how did they fit all those animals onto it?" This may be the first time I've ever heard about its proper use.
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - NewtonMP2100 - 05-26-2017
....'beg'......to differ....??
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - GuyGene - 05-26-2017
To me, standards have meaning. There should be standard English, ev n though languages change over time. Grammar especially needs a standard. And vocabulary, e.g., awesome has about lost its power as a word.
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - ka jowct - 05-26-2017
No one seems to be able to manage correct subjunctives anymore, either. Instead of saying "If I had known, I would have...", you hear "If I would have known, I would have..." which is nonsense.
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - raz - 05-26-2017
The question is moot.
Another misused word.
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - ka jowct - 05-26-2017
raz wrote:
The question is moot.
Another misused word.
The Joey character in "Friends" once used the phrase "It's a moo question." When asked about it, he said " It's like a cow's opinion. Nobody cares."
Re: This begs the question: Is the correct usage of "begging the question" dead? - S. Pupp - 05-26-2017
This begs the question: What makes the "incorrect" use incorrect, rather than new?