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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What I Learned in English Today

Current Mood:
CC is listening to: Tansy Land--Jim Chappell (Coming Through)

I didn't realize this until today, but I've been using the idiom "begs the question" incorrectly all this time. I've always used it as a form of "raises the question," like, "All this warm weather begs the question if we should water our yard plants."

"Begs the question," I just learned, is an English circular reference and is considered a logical fallacy. An example of the RIGHT way of using "begging the question" would be something like:

Interviewer: "Your resume looks impressive but I need another reference."
Bill: "Jill can give me a good reference."
Interviewer: "Good. But how do I know that Jill is trustworthy?"
Bill: "Certainly. I can vouch for her."

In this case, the interviewer would reply with something like, "That would be begging the question, Bill."

I know, I know--who cares, right? :-)

Hmm...I'll need to look up another idiom now because I always thought the above situation was an example of a "Catch 22." I may be wrong about THAT as well.

Labels: Found on the Internet, Reflections

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