Someone please teach these people a little English. Just a little...

I can forgive sentence fragments if used to hint that the rest of the sentence is unprintable or that the logical conclusion of the thought is unspeakable. My pet peeve - well, the list of my pet peeves is long enough to be a peeve menagerie. Today I'm irked by the misuse of a common English expression. I copied this right out of my Inbox, which is why it's a little blurry. I meant to apologize, but, on second thought, blurry strikes me as appropriate.


Oh, dear. To beg the question does NOT mean to raise the question.

A few brave souls maintain a Web site dedicated to stamping out this abuse of the term. I direct your attention to www.begthequestion.info.

Here, taken from begthequestion.info, is a definition of the term:

"Begging the question" is a form of logical fallacy in which a statement or claim is assumed to be true without evidence other than the statement or claim itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place.

The site also tells us what "begging the question" doesn't mean, which for most of us ordinary mortals is probably a bit more helpful than the above definition. Examples are provided.

Finally, the site provides cards that explain the correct meaning, which you may print out and hand to strangers if you hear them misusing the expression. These people are serious!

If passing out cards to strangers doesn't appeal, you may buy the t-shirt.

Oh, if only we had a mailing address for the Copywriter from Space!

hero of the day

I am always moved by gallant risk-taking. Today's hero is Mark Takano, a former high-school English teacher who was elected to Congress from the 41st Congressional District of California. Recently a copy of a memorandum produced by a coven of other Congresspersons was circulated to him.

Representative Takano reacted as any gallant high-school English teacher would. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence that at a red pen was close at hand.

I hope that my negligible computer skills have left the thing that enlarges the picture in place, for your ease of reading. If you can't read it, let me know and I'll try something else.

In closing, I note that a lesser man than Rep. Takano could have had a lot more fun with this.  I for one am considering signing him up for clothing catalogues.

a persistent fantasy

One of my fantasies is that I have endowed the younger generation with an innate sense of what was once called Good English. I fondly imagine that when they write, their sentences have verbs; that these verbs agree, kindly and harmoniously, with their subjects; that they never say "clearly" more than once a month, irony excepted; that they are not fooled by homonyms; that the wayward apostrophe holds no challenge for them... I cherish the illusion that though I have no riches to leave them, their clear and concise grasp of the Language of Repeated Conquests and Immigrant Dreams, once  known as the Language of Shakespeare but I like my term better, is a heritage for which they and the generations yet to come will thank me.
 
On the other hand maybe they'll just let iPad do the thinking. The possessive its will vanish from their writing, as it appears to be fading from mine, thanks to the obsessive-compulsive workings of the Demon Autocorrect. There may be hope, though, because I still care, even though there are days when the DA wins. I shall go down with sword in hand, if not pen..

some holiday cheer

Maybe it's something to sprinkle on your shoes? Definitions solicited!