more begging of the question.

[David Bowie]

From:    "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>

> I wrote imprecisely.  I should have written that Sen. Nelson may
> simply have used "begged" (yes, passive) where he may have intended
> "begging":  "The question is begging to be answered" (an
> understandable utterance) vs. "...the question is begged to be answered."

> There is another possibility.  With the passive one doesn't know who
> is begging -- perhaps Nelson saw the question itself pleading for an answer!

Actually, this last makes sense to me--since a legislator works in an
environment where questions and such conversational items are central to
everyday life, perhaps there's a tendency to endow them with human-like
behaviors and feelings (much like linguists often do with language)?
It'd take a study of whether such tendencies exist among politicians,
but it's at least a plausible idea, i think.

--
David Bowie                               University of Central Florida
     Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
     house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
     chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org