Duncan wrote:
Tim Kynerd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> posted
[EMAIL PROTECTED], excerpted below, on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 09:13:12
-0600:
All of which is only the tip of a very large iceberg of linguistic
irritation. ("Tow the line," for example, has been annoying me for years.)
The one that I suppose I deliberately still use "wrong" is "that begs the
question." I use as the literal meaning of the words, which I'm told is
incorrect, tho it's becoming a semi-accepted usage (as is "tow the line")
because it's so common. If they don't /mean/ to "beg" the question, why
is it /phrased/ as if they do? Proper meaning, smopper meaning, I'm using
the literal meaning in my writing, and anyone that doesn't like it, can go
read someone else's writing! This isn't Composition 101, this is Real
Life (R).
Unfortunately, if you want to actually communicate with other people,
you can't make one-sided decisions about what words and phrases mean.
"Beg the question" is an old term in English and has an accepted meaning
that is different from the literal meaning (like many, many other
English phrases!).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beg_the_question
For what I assume you use as the literal meaning of "beg the question,"
"raise the question" works perfectly well. "Bring up the question" also
works.
Yes, I'm a prescriptivist, and proud of it. :-P
Best,
Tim
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