[WAYYY OT] Begs the question

[Tim]

On Tue, 2011-03-22 at 07:18 -0700, Joe Zeff wrote:
> Wolfe was saying that the first response was begging the question, so
> he'd try again to get the information he wanted by rephrasing his
> question.

And I'm used to seeing "begging the question" in a different context.

  Someone makes some remark.
  Another responds with "begs the question."

Meaning that the first person's statement has virtually demanded that
you ask the obvious question about it, rather than let it go
unchallenged.  And the "begs the question" gets the question answered,
without you actually saying the question.

Anyway...  In any forum, or even meeting, it's a bad idea to start using
idioms that are not going to be understood in exactly the same way by
all the participants, instead of just using everyday language.  It can
be hard enough doing so in a room of people that work together daily,
never mind with an international audience.

-- 
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