07-24-2004, 08:59 PM
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Hello world!
Industry Role:
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 12,508
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Quote:
Originally posted by BigG
You probably meant that it:
Leads you to another question
Makes you wonder
Brings to mind
Provokes you to ask
Raises another question
It?s the rare language-usage error that makes me emerge from my usual apathetic shell, but this one does: the epidemic misuse of the phrase ?begs the question.? I almost never see it used properly these days. Writers -- and, perhaps worse, their editors and copy editors -- seem to think ?begs the question? means ?provokes us to ask,? or ?makes me wonder,? or something close to that.
An argument that improperly assumes as true the very point the speaker is trying to argue for is said in formal logic to "beg the question." Here is an example of a question-begging argument: "This painting is trash because it is obviously worthless." The speaker is simply asserting the worthlessness of the work, not presenting any evidence to demonstrate that this is in fact the case. Since we never use "begs" with this odd meaning ("to improperly take for granted") in any other phrase, many people mistakenly suppose the phrase implies something quite different: that the argument demands that a question about it be asked--raises the question. If you're not comfortable with formal terms of logic, it's best to stay away from this phrase, or risk embarrassing yourself.
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lol.  |
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