this post was submitted on 21 May 2024
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TechTakes
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.
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If natively fluent speakers of the English language use beg the question in the "wrong" way time and time again, finding the "incorrect" meaning a natural fit with their understanding of the verb to beg, then the "incorrect" meaning may well be the one we should roll with.
I also stopped correcting people about the "correct" meaning of 'moot' a while ago too. Also when http://begthequestion.info went offline I hung up that hat for good. Still get a twinge inside every time I hear either
Was it not always moot to enlighten the meaning of the word. ^^
ahhh why are you doing this to me
Pedants being wrong on the Internet is exactly why I have an OED subscription. :) "Beg the question" in the sense of "to assume without proof" doesn't have a supporting quote newer than 1870, which suggests to me that... yeah, it can be considered obsolete.
Merriam-Webster also has a good page explaining the expression, and the predominance of the natural meaning: https://web.archive.org/web/20240522073251/https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/beg-the-question
Well put M-W staff writer, well put.