this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2025
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It's an obsolete usage of "beg" that's now preserved only in that particular set phrase. One of English's many linguistic fossils, which you should learn more about before trying to critique anyone's language use.
It's a misuse of the cliche "begs the question" (which goes back to medieval Latin petitio principii) which is used to call out a form of fallacious reasoning where the desired answer is smuggled into the assumptions. And yeah, that use of "beg" is obsolete, but even worse, the whole phrase is now misused to mean "prompts the question."