[pianotech] "Beg the Question"

[pianofritz50 at aol.com]

Well, there you go... even Wikipedia argues about what "to beg the question" means, much less how it is to be used:

>>Modern usage  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beg_the_question
>>More recently, "to beg the question" has been used as a synonym for to raise the question. 
>>For example, "This year's budget deficit is half a trillion dollars. 
>>This begs the question: how are we ever going to balance the budget?"
>>
>>Using the term in this way, although common, is considered incorrect 
>>by prescriptive grammarians.[9] This usage is the result of confusion 
>>over the translation of petitio principii, which literally translates as "assuming 
>>the starting point".[10] (Arguments over whether this current usage should 
>>be considered incorrect are an example of debate over linguistic prescription and description 
>>and the historical evolution of language.)

I beg your indulgences, more than you wanted to know...   Bill Fritz, St Louis



From:
David Boyce <David at piano.plus.com>

To:
pianotech at ptg.org

Subject:
Re: [pianotech] Glues and clamping but going O-T!

Date:
Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:20:41 +0000


>Which begs the question: what will loosen the glue joint of PVC-E?  
To "beg the question" does not mean "to raise the question". It means "to EVADE the question, to avoid answering it" 
 
It's from "to beg off from doing something" - to find an excuse for avoiding doing it. 
 
Increasingly, usage of "to beg the question" seems to be changing. 
 
Maybe there's no right or wrong in it. Call me a semantical olde fule..... 
 
David Boyce 
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