To our dear readers: “It begs the question” is not synonymous with “it raises the question.” So when you say “It begs the question” and then ask a question, you’re using it incorrectly. Stop doing that. Saying “it begs the question” when you mean “it raises the question” in an attempt to sound smart makes you sound exactly the opposite of your goal.
Here is a sloppy example of a statement that would be begging the question: “Colt 1911s are more accurate than Glocks because Colt uses a National Match barrel in their guns.” Begging the question is a logical fallacy that occurs “when a proposition which requires proof is assumed without proof”. So in our example above, the statement that Colts are more accurate than Glocks is assumed without proving that a National Match barrel is more accurate than a Glock barrel.
In conclusion, stop using “begs the question” incorrectly. This grammar-nazi rant is sponsored by idiots on facebook trying to sound smart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question#Modern_usage
This is apparently not as cut and dry as it once was. Damned evolving language and all that.
I saw that section of the wikipedia article, and dismissed it entirely. It was clearly inserted by “modern usage” clowns who believe that just because lots of people use a word incorrectly somehow justifies it.
I don’t think the last part of the second sentence above is grammatically correct. Ooops. LOL.
When you have time for more grammatical police work, can you give me your take on the the prefatory clause, “To wit”? I was just about to use it, and was worried what people might think!
This begs the question, why is grammar important is a digital world?
Your trolling aside, grammar is especially important in a digital world because our primary means of communication is still the written word. We text, we send emails, we communicate via writing.
In a “Perfect World” we’d all be perfect; it is not and neither are we. It is fun to see what annoys people though . . . .
And the “furniture” on a rifle is not the stock….