Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Grammar Girl, Grammar Girl's, QDnow, and Quick and Dirty Tips are all trademarks of Macmillan Holdings, LLC. What "begs the question" really means. Greg grammar I wrote about this on my own blog, and after stumbling across your site for another article, I just KNEW you'd have an opinion on this one. ;-) Going back to user comment from "goofy" over a year ago... GG isn't saying that the incorrect usage is for "sidestep the question," but rather the incorrect usage is for "which raises the question." To that extent, she's right. And for mnemonic devices, the "question being begged" also works. But for purist definitions, the users who cite specifically the "circular argument" examples are a bit more on the money. Still, glad there are many of us out there being stubbornly pedantic about BTQ! I'm a bit boringly pedantic to begin with, though I try my best to allow for common usage... but I just can't let incorrect use of BTQ slip. As GG says, there is no "void" to be filled that the common (mis)usage should be allowed to prevail. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=19784#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=19784#Comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:31:51 GMT Bob Wallace grammar I am glad that someone is aking up the church for the original meaning of "BTQ - BUT your heading of "The Wrong Way to Use BTQ" yo;u fall into grtammatical error yourself i.e. ...sadly BTQ is used "wrong" a lot. Is not the proper usage, "Used wrongly?" http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=19211#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=19211#Comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:21:29 GMT Bigmouth grammar Sorry, that last line should read: "...The speaker begs (or avoids) the question she's posed by assuming the truth of HER premises." http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=17416#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=17416#Comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:30:58 GMT Bigmouth grammar Wow...no. The question begged is the one posed by the person making a circular argument. In your chocolate example, the question being begged is that "Chocolate is healthful." The speaker begs (or avoids) the question she's posed by assuming the truth of your premises. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=17415#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=17415#Comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:29:22 GMT Sally grammar Thanks for that! Even my teacher explained it to us using the false defenition, but I thankfully looked it up. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=17327#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=17327#Comments Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:11:02 GMT tim grammar The term "to beg the question" does not mean to use faulty reasoning or invalid premises. It means to use a circular argument. That is, to assume what you are trying to prove in one of the premises of your argument. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=16303#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=16303#Comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:14:52 GMT Pete grammar It looks like henry agrees with the misinformed journalists who involve themselves with misused phrases 'in speech and print'. It's an annoying misuse of words, especially when 'raises the question' really isn't that much harder to say.. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14698#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14698#Comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:18:21 GMT henry grammar I disagree on this one. The common usage of "begs the question" is "raises the question", both in speech and in print. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the common usage is wrong when most people are using it that way; the very same reason why I wouldn't say that a person is wrong when he spells "color" as "colour". Please, just accept that there are 2 definitions and move on! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14643#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14643#Comments Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:37:26 GMT Phylisa Carter grammar Grammar Girl, "That kind of group-fueled nastiness must surely beg the question: Will white people riot if Obama wins?" Will White People Riot? The Root.com, Oct 22, 2008 On its face this use of the phrase "begs the question" looks incorrect, however if the article is read in its entirety, I would argue that the use of the phrase in this case falls under faulty premise. Can you read the article and give me your expert opinion. Good discussion, I learned something today. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14423#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14423#Comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:16:46 GMT Joyce Carpenter grammar I greatly appreciate your effort to stamp out this error. However, I disagree with your description of the problem. You give 3 accounts of the nature of the problem, but only one of them is accurate. RIGHT: the premise can be just a restatement of the conclusion itself. WRONG: "a conclusion based on a premise that lacks support" That's a general description of fallacious arguments in which the premises are insufficient to prove the conclusion. It is not an accurate account of the particular fallacy under examination. WRONG: "a premise that's independent from the conclusion" Again, this is a general description of a problem, this time a problem of relevance between premises and conclusion. You say the term comes from logic, so please limit yourself to definitions from logicians (such as the Nizkor project) rather than perpetuating the sloppy accounts from grammarians (webster and safire). http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14321#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx?commentid=14321#Comments Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:47:57 GMT Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:31:51 GMT http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/begs-the-question.aspx feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Managing Editor) feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Webmaster) en-us