begging

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

from a review of the new tv series "Hawaii" by Alessandra Stanley, NYT
9/1/04, p. B6:
=====
There are no female detectives at headquarters, just a sultry young
policewoman who aspires to be one.  She is the lust object for two
young investigators,  Their silent, narrow-eyed stare contests are so
smoldering that they almost beg Sergio Leone theme music.
=====

here we have "beg" as a simple transitive verb meaning 'beg for'.  how
did we get to this?

it probably started with the technical idiom "beg the question".  as
the alt.usage.english faq page describes the beginning of the
development (http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxbegthe.html):
=====
    Many people unaware of the technical meaning of "to beg the
question" in logic use it in one of two looser senses.  The first of
these, "to evade the question, to duck the issue", is attested since
1860 (WDEU).  The second, "to invite the obvious question, (with an
inanimate subject) to raise the question", is now the most commonly
heard use of the phrase, although we have found no mention of it prior
to The Oxford Guide to English Usage, 1st edition (1983), and it is not
yet in most dictionaries.
=====

a quick google search shows that "beg the issue" has developed roughly
the same range of meanings as "beg the question".  "beg" with some
other other objects, like "the possibility", seems to have only the
'invite' sense:
=====
.. without harsh measures. Finally, of course, a weak dollar begs the
possibility of higher interest rates. Mr. Greenspan's refusal ...
  209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1056180/posts
=====

somewhere along the line, the ordinary 'ask for' sense of "beg" seems
to have reasserted itself, in a kind of reanalysis of "beg" + object
expressions as involving the common verb "beg" rather than some
specialized "beg", and we get things like "beg an answer" and "beg a
solution":
=====
... 22:1,3), Trinitarian theology begs an answer to the question: "What
on earth  happened to the Holy Spirit?". Who is the Holy Spirit? ...
  www.biblicalunitarian.com/html/
modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=84

... Unfortunately, there is one issue that still begs a solution, and
provides a challenge to creating a mutually acceptable situation. ...
  shipwreck.net/gsarticle04.html
=====

and now we're in a position to beg 'beg for' just about anything, even
sergio leone theme music.  well, some people are.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)