(Birth)Day 11
Today was quite lovely. Class was all good, and I managed to get to a rousing colloquium by one of the philosophy professors. Watching all the other professors criticize and critique, then get criticized in return, was impressive.
Birthday wishes were abundant, though I admit there were one or two people I had hoped would extend a word, but did not.
Had dinner with the folks. Food was also abundant, as was dessert.
But enough about me! Here are three words/phrases that people misuse to my shagrin on a startlingly regular basis:
"Begs the question"
"(very, somewhat, fairly, a bit, etc.) unique"
"Literally"
To beg the question means to make an argument in which you presuppose the conclusion within a premise. Ie. A question begging argument is a circular (typically bad) one. For instance:
P: The Bible says God exists
P: The Bible is of divine revelation
-------------------------------------------
C: Therefore, God exists.
The second premise only works if you assume the conclusion, and thus the argument begs the question, and is pretty much terrible all around. Surprisingly, it is a really common one.
To say that something begs the question, in the sense that a particular fact or issue prompts a pertinent question, is totally the wrong usage of the phrase. For example "The response to Katrina was very slow, which begs the question: just how competent is the Department of Homeland Security?"
That's totally wrong. The information warrants that a particular question be asked, but it's not question begging!
As I wrote the above, I found the following website, devoted entirely to this exact gramattical error: http://begthequestion.info/
Uniqueness: For something to be unique, it has to be one of a kind. Not, necessarly in every respect, but in at least the one respect that is the same in which it is being referred to as unique. Therefore something either is or is not unique. It can't be more or less, a lot or a little, very or somewhat or fairly unique!
Literally: This one produces the funniest consequences. People use "literally" as a mere exaggeration term, rather than, well, a literal term of description. I found an hilarious website devoted to this, chronicaling funny misuses of the word: http://literally.barelyfitz.com/
Until next time!
Birthday wishes were abundant, though I admit there were one or two people I had hoped would extend a word, but did not.
Had dinner with the folks. Food was also abundant, as was dessert.
But enough about me! Here are three words/phrases that people misuse to my shagrin on a startlingly regular basis:
"Begs the question"
"(very, somewhat, fairly, a bit, etc.) unique"
"Literally"
To beg the question means to make an argument in which you presuppose the conclusion within a premise. Ie. A question begging argument is a circular (typically bad) one. For instance:
P: The Bible says God exists
P: The Bible is of divine revelation
-------------------------------------------
C: Therefore, God exists.
The second premise only works if you assume the conclusion, and thus the argument begs the question, and is pretty much terrible all around. Surprisingly, it is a really common one.
To say that something begs the question, in the sense that a particular fact or issue prompts a pertinent question, is totally the wrong usage of the phrase. For example "The response to Katrina was very slow, which begs the question: just how competent is the Department of Homeland Security?"
That's totally wrong. The information warrants that a particular question be asked, but it's not question begging!
As I wrote the above, I found the following website, devoted entirely to this exact gramattical error: http://begthequestion.info/
Uniqueness: For something to be unique, it has to be one of a kind. Not, necessarly in every respect, but in at least the one respect that is the same in which it is being referred to as unique. Therefore something either is or is not unique. It can't be more or less, a lot or a little, very or somewhat or fairly unique!
Literally: This one produces the funniest consequences. People use "literally" as a mere exaggeration term, rather than, well, a literal term of description. I found an hilarious website devoted to this, chronicaling funny misuses of the word: http://literally.barelyfitz.com/
Until next time!
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