I Beg Your Pardon
In the review of Indecision, the author misuses the term “beg the question,” which has a precise rhetorical meaning: to employ circular reasoning.
What the reviewer meant was “raise” or “prompt” the question. This mistake is becoming more common, but that does not mean it is not a mistake. It makes the author sound pretentious and ignorant, which is ironic considering his criticism of Kunkel. Oh, and I am American, not British.
Take care.
Chris Thomas
Dear Mr. Thomas
Well, I’m not really sure what that last bit was all about, but it really doesn’t surprise me that you are an American — only a smartass American would feel the overwhelming need to correct my usage of the phrase “begs the question.”
However, allow me to correct you on two counts. First, I am very well aware of the formal meaning of the phrase. It comes from the Greek meaning “at the beginning to assume.” Secondly, my own use of the phrase was not from ignorance, but from the recognition that the commonly accepted meaning has changed.
And, by the way, Who is being pretentious? What you call a “mistake” is nothing of the sort. How can the commonly understood meaning of a phrase be wrong simply because it isn’t yet acknowledged by those who write the style and usage manuals? Such authoritative sources are usually slow to acknowledge such evolutions in the language. People will continue to “misuse” the phrase and sooner or later the Oxford-American and other such sources will have no choice but to recognize the fact. English is a living and very democratic language. In other words, the people ultimately decide what the language is, not the scholars.
I noticed that you didn’t take issue with my actual comments about the novel in question.
yours with kisses,
John C. Erianne
