I've wondered that exact same thing for years.

If you had read that article you provided it even says the phrase is being used incorrectly more and more and by literacy experts like journalist, advertisers and major mass medias, all this means is that it's ok to use it in the fashion in which I did.

Actually if you really want to get technical the oldest definition I could find was this meaning: "assuming the initial point", from the 16th century when the phrase was first used. So the article you came up is wrong in the way you look at it, but the way I look at is that the meaning changes over time, and thus it changed from the 16th century to what you mentioned, to now how it is used. And according to Wiki we all are using it incorrectly, including the site you gave.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

There you go Logic cop, (I hate the word nazi).

This week's haul, a pretty serviceable hoodie (one small rip in the back, fine for wearing in most casual situations), a pretty decent pair of sunglasses, and a pocket roll of duct tape

https://goo.gl/photos/zooyYpFgwnWa8dJL6

OK, I'll be logic cop instead.

Yes, usage changes, and yes a VAST majority of usages of 'beg the question' are incorrect according to the meaning that has been around ever since the phrase entered English from the latin petitio principii, but overwhelming incorrect usage doesn't make it right, or at least not right away.

That raises (but doesn't beg) the question of, when does usage cause a change in the standard? What is the standard? Who decides? Is "ain't" accepted english yet?

Actually ain't is acceptable, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain%27t

All of this being a word cop is just nuts. I understand if you're bored, but this is very informal writing on any forum and errors should be ignored. I don't like people using the F, or the S, or the B, or the GD, or the MF, or the N word either, but they do, it's our society, and I don't correct people for using those words unless it's my grandkids then I'll get in their faces. I was at a fast food place 2 or 3 weeks ago with my grandkids, the counter girl, with a face full of studs, messed up something on the register and couldn't figure out how to correct so she called the manager over to help her, when the manager came over the counter girl said to the manager: "I falked up", the manager never batted an eye at the use of the word in front of not just customers, but kids, and not just my kids but others standing there. If I was the manager I would have fired her on the spot, but then again I would have never hired her looking like that! Just the degradation of society in America, and no one seems interested in reversing it.

OK, ain't was a bad example. Interesting info from wiki how ain't had a long history of acceptability before it got stomped on -- but it seems it was always only acceptable in informal/oral speech, never in formal/written language.

ANYWAYS, I'm not trying to be word cop (except when newbs ask about how to fix their breaks)

As I called myself originally, I'm acting as logic cop. The phrase 'beg the question' has meaning, and what people intend to express does not match that meaning.

It's like when people say "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less". Drives me nuts.

"And if that's what she thinKs, she's got another thinG coming!" -- makes no sense!

I drive nuts and I couldn't care less...unless others are around me.

I beg to differ.

I'll allow it.

spelign flame

I've always liked this phrase whenever it comes up in written form; "wet your appetite", study this one for a bit.[h=2][/h]

I thought it was "whet your appetite". It seems we are separated by a common language ��

No, you are right, that's why I asked you all to study it. It's one of those weird phrases that get written as WET when it's suppose to be WHET, and people think the actual word is wet.

If you know what a whetstone is, it makes more sense that the meaning of the phrase is to sharpen your appetite.

I LOVE finding water bottles. I've found several over the years. I'd hate to see them go in the trash, so I pick them up. I probably have 6 foster bottles in my cupboard.

I lost a Polar bottle about 5 years or so ago, my hand missed the cage and the bottle went flying off the side of the road, since there was nothing there but grass I thought no problem, plus it had a yellow/black/white pattern in it so it should have shown up...I searched and searched an ever increasing larger area for about 20 minutes and never found it. I think it dropped into a black hole, it was very weird. Did you happen to find it? Maybe mine traveled a worm hole and made to your area of the country.

Any bottles I ever seen had already been hit by cars so I never found a nice one.

Today I found one of my water bottles on the road... several metres behind me... after failing to get it back in its cage correctly.

One Sunday morning driving to church with the fam, I saw a cyclist riding with his buddy, he missed the cage and his water bottle went flying. A hundred yards more or so and we were at a light together, so I rolled down my window and told him his bottle was right over there, he said he had another and didn't want to go back. He also said something lippy about me driving a car, which kind of pissed me off. Next morning on my ride to work I picked up the bottle (still full of whatever pale orange liquid he had in there), now it's mine.

Best way to find free waterbottles, be the slowest guy in an organized ride. Also, my wife picked up a cygolite hotshot once, I use it on my commuter and love it so much I would pay to replace it if I lost it.

I found a debit card yesterday and called in to cancel it. Chase didn't make that very easy, but I figured whoever lost it would be glad to know it was already cancelled when they called in to report it lost.

Friday I found a 16" silver snake chain; a little cleaning, a little polish, and it's holding my tiny silver Tardis key now. :-)

I found a quarter a couple of days ago. It's a little beat up as though it was run over a few times.

Edger blades, always edger blades. The lawn maintenance guys around here carry them on pegs welded onto their trailers, and they just distribute them all over. Saturday I saw a mangled valve cover off a straight 6 (judging by the length), yesterday I saw 2 spark plugs (which was weird since they were several miles apart on different roads), and then there was the head gasket I saw by the side of the road...

A surprising number of latex gloves; they're all up and down the highway, it's weird.

i was heading up the mountain and pulled off in a dirt pull out area to raise my seat a tad. right there in the dirt was a mini multi tool. Even has a little flashlight on it. :)

This morning I saw an un-opened can of Vienna sausages in the middle of a 4-way intersection.

Not quite 'on the road' as much as 'in the trash' as part of my route this morning was trash day.

Two toilets, somebody's doing some renovation. I had just been working on my toilets the day before, and noticed a handle had a corroded lever, so I grabbed the lever off one of the toilets. I would have taken a flush valve too, but I would have had to have tools and time to get the tank off the bowl to get it off.

I found a nice pair of Ray-Ban polarized sunglasses. Also some random cash here and there.

This week, a smallish (young?) barn owl, a sparrow, and either a large crow or small raven, couldn't tell. I've seen little dead bats a couple of times too, but this seems to be bird week.

I didn't find what I spotted ON the ground, per say. I saw DEER on a LAWN!!! A whole LOTTA deer. And a group of 3 young bucks on someone's lawn stood there, contemplating if it was worth their while to stop eating a households bushes & plants and ram the *CARP* out of me,... I believe I may have been quite lucky the other day. And, I see deer every ride. Where I just relocated to these suckers are all over the place. :thumb:

Last week I spotted a folded up US $1 bill in the bicycle lane.