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In reply to the discussion: I Beg You: Never, ever use "Begs the Question" [View all]Donkees
(31,664 posts)44. "begging the question" is derived from an antiquated usage of "beg" meaning "to take for granted."
The traditional meaning of "begging the question" is derived from an antiquated usage of "beg" meaning "to take for granted." In that usage, a "beggar" was usually someone who camped on the local squire's land without permission.
When this phrase had currency, it was in the dialect of people who had an enviable station in life; they were wealthy and powerful. The examples of its usage that survive today have been preserved because they were uttered by people who had something interesting to say and were good at saying it, but it is also true that people paid attention to what they said because of their wealth and power.
So why do people now say "beg the question" when they mean "raise the question"? As Ben says, it is quite an unnatural construction in the latter usage. In my opinion, the attraction is that it imitates the language of those who once did use it naturally, and the modern speakers hope that the virtues of these older speakers - intelligence, fluency, and social status - will somehow be transferred to them.
It is just an unfortunate irony that the very misuse of the phrase should undermine the hopes that gave utterance to it.
Although it is true that language changes continually, this observation by itself is not an adequate guide to effective usage. If I wanted to communicate with the widest possible audience, I would avoid the phrase altogether. But in a blog for educated professionals, I see nothing wrong with promoting familiarity with the interesting ideas of the past.
When this phrase had currency, it was in the dialect of people who had an enviable station in life; they were wealthy and powerful. The examples of its usage that survive today have been preserved because they were uttered by people who had something interesting to say and were good at saying it, but it is also true that people paid attention to what they said because of their wealth and power.
So why do people now say "beg the question" when they mean "raise the question"? As Ben says, it is quite an unnatural construction in the latter usage. In my opinion, the attraction is that it imitates the language of those who once did use it naturally, and the modern speakers hope that the virtues of these older speakers - intelligence, fluency, and social status - will somehow be transferred to them.
It is just an unfortunate irony that the very misuse of the phrase should undermine the hopes that gave utterance to it.
Although it is true that language changes continually, this observation by itself is not an adequate guide to effective usage. If I wanted to communicate with the widest possible audience, I would avoid the phrase altogether. But in a blog for educated professionals, I see nothing wrong with promoting familiarity with the interesting ideas of the past.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/305/what-does-the-phrase-begging-the-question-mean
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I am but a vessel, a mere implement of greater forces than ourselves... I wield a red grading pencil
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#16
It's an elitist dog whistle so I can get support from other bad humanists (n/t)
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#10
Thanks for pointing out your website. I enjoyed the 'listening as hard as I can' item...
SWBTATTReg
Sep 2018
#48
The article about begging the question is on my grammar and usage site, where I have
tblue37
Sep 2018
#149
The worst, imho, is the abuse of "comprises" with a misapplication, or the horrors of "comprised of"
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#25
Agreed. 'Comprises' is, at worst, penultimate on the countdown (see what i did there?) :) (n/t)
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#42
This certainly does beg a question: what is really going on with your out of ...
marble falls
Sep 2018
#20
I'm just really flustrated by the way some people think it is funner to be mischievious
ProfessorPlum
Sep 2018
#28
I think its just one of the quirks that make you the fun and good DUer you are.
marble falls
Sep 2018
#175
Thanks! But I do agree with reply #3 that one of your sentences is impossible. nt
LAS14
Sep 2018
#31
Seems fair, as we demonstrably lack any benefit of yours in this whopper of an OP :)
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#39
"Where there is light, there must be shadow - where there is shadow there must be light."
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#87
Being spineless doesn't necessitate a wheelchair. As you know, one can just truck in empty insults.
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#168
U too - I'm not 'from the dark side,' bc another user blocked me. That's what I took as an insult.
FreepFryer
Sep 2018
#172
While we're at it, I also grind my teeth when I see "from whence," which I just ran into on
tblue37
Sep 2018
#40
"begging the question" is derived from an antiquated usage of "beg" meaning "to take for granted."
Donkees
Sep 2018
#44
sorry, but your example uses a popular, but incorrect, use of "begs the question"
ProfessorPlum
Sep 2018
#90
Also, I'm not trying to be a butthole, but the grammar in your lead post is rather spotty
Goodheart
Sep 2018
#83
For reasons I don't understand... journalists seem to have started and perpetuated this misuse.
kennetha
Sep 2018
#82
Eeeeew. Unctuous is Ted Cruz. I could never eat any food that came near "unctuous"
MaryMagdaline
Sep 2018
#154
Professor Plum errs in his insistence that there is only one meaning to the phrase.
Goodheart
Sep 2018
#104
Oh, now there's a blown up phrase. I think that some people must think that it adds a certain
japple
Sep 2018
#146
Pretty pedantic? But what about really evil stuff like turning verbs into nouns?
icaria
Sep 2018
#164