On Tuesday 20 December 2011 17:27:14 John Andersen wrote:
If you look up the word Beg, it is defined as plead, solicit, ask, etc.
So Begging to differ is in keeping with the most common usage, namely Asking, or Pleading to differ.
Its not till you get to the third definition (or later) of beg that you come to the meaning of evade, or sidestep.
It is this usage that is limited in usage almost exclusively to "begging the question" and constructions of similar ilk.
The point is that it is a straight translation of the latin "petitio", it never had a secondary meaning in that sentence. It is a rather poor translation, but the logic fallacy meaning of "beg the question" never arose from any alternative meaning of "beg", it was pure definition based on the translation from latin. The beg in "beg to differ" on the other hand comes from an old meaning of beg: to humbly submit. Anders -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org