Which begs the question does mean

How do you know chocolate is good for you? Again, the question is What's the support for your premise? If I didn't just accept that chocolate is healthful, I'm not going to accept that it's healthful because you say it's good for me. They're the same thing. Make a better argument. It took me about two seconds to find good examples of bad usage in the news. Many people mistakenly believe it's OK to use the phrase to introduce a clever or obvious question.

For example, After chronicling Natalie Coughlin's accomplishments, a reporter writes: " All of which begs the question, is Coughlin the best female swimmer this country has ever seen? This begs the question: What is going on in the minds of these officials who were appointed to serve us? But I'm firmly in the camp that believes it's worthwhile to stick to the formal definition.

There are plenty of phrases writers can use when they mean "makes me wonder" or "raises the question. The quick and dirty tip is to remember that when something begs the question, it begs the question: what is your support for that premise?

Remember to sign up for the free e-mail newsletter with grammar tips. References 1. Garner, B. Garner's Modern American Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Safire, W. YOU: That begs the question. ME: Huh? ME: Yeah — which begs the question, why do people want to read about her? Add a Comment. Join the conversation I forgive you.

God bless you. Leave a Comment. God and logic are not mutually exclusive. Neither are religion and humor. You accuse the writer of blasphemy, then forgive him, then instruct God to bless him? Now THAT begs more than just one question. You are just another Atheist taking the opportunity to ridicule religion.

I thought I was reading an article by a serious scholar, not just another second rate hack taking the opportunity to promulgate his own private views on the universe. This is exactly the point people miss these days. Liberman recommends that people avoid it altogether but also "cultivate an attitude of serene detachment in the face of its use by others".

You may take his recommendation, or you may use beg the question to mean either "to cause someone to ask a specified question as a reaction or response" or "to ignore a question or issue by assuming it has been answered or settled. One more little matter here: the "to ignore a question or issue" meaning of beg the question has led to a meaning of beg defined as "evade" or "sidestep. Some of you may be quick to notice that steroids and other PEDs [performance enhancing drugs] are banned.

It's cheating to use them. But not so surgery, which is entirely on the up and up. But this just begs the issue. Why have we banned use of performance enhancing medicine but not surgery? Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. Usage Notes Beg the Question It's not begging at all.

What to Know Begging the question means "to elicit a specific question as a reaction or response," and can often be replaced with "a question that begs to be answered. More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct.

Time Traveler. Love words? Need even more definitions? Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively".