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Should we accept incorrect usage of language that is more confusing than the correct usage? For instance, using "begs the question" instead of "raises the quest
by nhayden 12y ago
Should we accept incorrect usage of language that is more confusing than the correct usage? For instance, using "begs the question" instead of "raises the question". It causes a lot of confusion because people cannot even agree what the misusage of "begs the question" means and it is never a better choice of words than "raises the question" if that is what someone means.
- jamon51 12y agoRarely are we in a position to "accept" or "deny" changes in language. They just happen, with or without our consent. All we can do is try to keep up and make some sense of the current state.
- Squarel 12y agoI am with Stephen Fry on this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY Language evolves over time, and I am no more confused by someone (mis)using "begs the question" than I am by someone using the modern definition of decimate.
- gpvos 12y agoThe point is that "correct usage" is not defined by logicians or etymologists or any kind of authority, but by society as a whole, and therefore has no one exact definition. Look up "literally" in any recent dictionary for proof.
- teach 12y agoAnd the misuse of 'literally' as a generic intensifier isn't even recent. It dates back[0] to the late 1600s. [0] http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_good_word/2005/11/the_word_we_love_to_hate.html http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_good_word/2005/11/the...