Yesterday I found myself stuck in a seemingly endless conference call, listening to a particularly grating voice exclaim, “that begs the question…” over and over again. But the original person’s point did not beg the question — because begging the question does not mean raising a question; it means presuming your conclusion or using circular reasoning. From Begging the question – Wikipedia:
Part of the reason for the misunderstanding over what ‘begging the question’ means may be due to the confusing term itself, which was translated into English from Latin in the 16th century. The Latin version, Petitio Principii, would be translated more accurately as ‘Petitioning the Principle,’ or ‘Claiming the truth of the very matter in question,’ but the more pithy ‘Begging the question’ has become the well-known translation.
I found myself so very close to adopting my Inigo Montaya accent and saying, “You keep using that [term]. I do not think it means what you think it means.”