05-26-2017, 08:44 PM
For decades (centuries?) people were perfectly content to say, "That raises the question..." Then people who had no actual understanding of the actual meaning of "begs the question" began using that phrase (probably because they thought it sounded more erudite than "raises") and the downward trend was initiated. After that it's just people learning the phrase phonetically from those around them...
It's a bit like people who use the phrase "I could care less" without ever trying to resolve the contradiction between the actual meaning of the phrase and the thought they're trying to express.
It's a bit like people who use the phrase "I could care less" without ever trying to resolve the contradiction between the actual meaning of the phrase and the thought they're trying to express.