Shawn Burns wrote: > This is an interesting point. I generally uses "begs the question" as > denoting a argument fallacy. But every once in a while I want to use > it as "raises the question", and I think there is at least a popular > movement to change the meaning of the phrase. I don't think I would > object to the meaning being changed, since intuitively I can see > "that begs the question" as meaning "what you have just said is akin > to begging me to ask you this follow-up question". I don't know what > the etymology is (perhaps both meanings were in usage at some point), > but I'm inclined to use it both ways, despite what the OED says. At > one point the OED defined a whale as a fish; meanings change with use. > > Shawn It is commonly used to mean "raise the question", basically because lots of people don't know what it really means. Trouble is, those are pretty close to opposites, and the original meaning is becoming obscure for no gain.