It begs the question: is it just me?

[Andrea Morrow]

David,

I teach students about logical fallacies in several of my classes -
and I will also admit to using "beg the question" in the non-logical
sense you mentioned in casual conversations with friends and
neighbors.  But then I also am perfectly comfortable using "data" as a
singular noun... I should probably be run out of educated society.

Andrea

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 11:31 AM, David Donnell <daviddonnell at nyc.rr.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       David Donnell <daviddonnell at NYC.RR.COM>
> Subject:      It begs the question: is it just me?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Whenever I hear someone use the phrase "begs the question" followed
> by a question, I instantly assume the speaker never took a class in
> logic...
>
> Someone tell me I'm wrong.
>
> Not being clever--don't mean to proscribe such usage--just curious if
> anyone (or how many) who studied logical fallacies ever uses the
> phrase in the 'non-logic' sense.
>
> David
> Missourian @ NYC
>
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--
Andrea Morrow
Director of Writing Programs
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
The University of Michigan
Room ER3615 Executive Residence
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
aandrea at umich.edu
734.763.9317

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