tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post5028786864836476052..comments2024-03-21T14:59:20.729-04:00Comments on NT Blog: Beg the Question alertMark Goodacrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05115370166754797529noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-92122963770064807662009-05-06T10:03:00.000-04:002009-05-06T10:03:00.000-04:00> Is there any idiom -- not a single
> word...> Is there any idiom -- not a single <br />> word, but a full phrase -- whose <br />> meaning has changed over the years<br /><br />Comedy of Errors<br /><br />Like Begging the Question, the meaning has become increasingly literal and lost much of its original sense.<br /><br />Also like Begging the Question you occasionally find people who take umbrage with its 'mis'-use.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054171196833894625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-34114765125727083052009-04-04T16:48:00.000-04:002009-04-04T16:48:00.000-04:00Sorry for the delayed reply, but I am tempted to a...Sorry for the delayed reply, but I am tempted to ask whether that answer from the FAQ doesn't beg the question. Perhaps BTQ is exactly the sort of example the FAQ is looking for.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10326403777027937887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-34967907481641632852009-03-29T19:18:00.000-04:002009-03-29T19:18:00.000-04:00Thanks, Doug. From the FAQ:"Shouldn't we accept t...Thanks, Doug. From the <A HREF="http://begthequestion.info/faq.php" REL="nofollow">FAQ</A>:<BR/><BR/>"Shouldn't we accept that words change in meaning over time?<BR/><BR/>True, words like "cool" and "gay" gained new meaning via a process of modern association with their understood meanings, but BTQ abuse rises from a misunderstanding of its original use. It would be as though people started using "the die is cast" to mean dying, simply because the word "die" is in there, without any knowledge of Caesar. Is there any idiom -- not a single word, but a full phrase -- whose meaning has changed over the years, simply by virtue of its being misunderstood by the linguistically inept or the historically ignorant?"Mark Goodacrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05115370166754797529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-34685289940326999152009-03-29T17:55:00.000-04:002009-03-29T17:55:00.000-04:00I must confess to a certain dubiousness over this ...I must confess to a certain dubiousness over this "grumpy old man" campaign. "Humph … gay doesn't mean homosexual, it means cheerful. These homosexuals have ruined a beautiful word" Words and phrases change in usage, and I would say that "begs the question" has shifted in meaning, like it or lump it. That may deprive us of a useful observation phrase about ungrounded or circular assumptions, but no doubt the natural resilience of English will cope.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10326403777027937887noreply@blogger.com