“Which begs the question: disastrous to what?”
I hate to be a prig, but it’s a pet peeve of mine. “Begging the question” has nothing to do with raising a question. It’s a logical fallacy similar to circular reasoning.
It's a pet peeve of mine too.
The correct phrase in this case would be "raising the question," not "begging the question."
But I guess some talking heads think "begging the question" sounds better.
One talking head who seems to have learned the distinction is, suprisingly, Sean Hannity.
Thanks for posting that. I did a lot of clicking for usage and definitions and dang, the other interesting items that popped up 'were something else'. I finally wound up at a Trigonometry website I bookmarked -- and a few other sites for my Reference Folders.
Personally my biggest pet peeve is seeing 'alot' being used by FReepers. No such word exists so the spell-check feature isn't broke. It should be two words 'a lot'. There is the word 'allot' but that means an entirely different thing than 'many'. Another peeve is 'irregardless', and, 'its' vs 'it's'. (though that error can just be a typo in some cases)
Anywho, your post continues to confirm that FReepers are the smartest group of people who are walking God's green earth. Pick a subject and there'll be FReepers who are experts on it.
So thanks again ;-)