The phrase “begs the question” does not mean “raises the question.” “Beg the question” means “engage in circular reasoning” (within a single syllogism), or, more precisely, “assume the truth of the proposition you purport to be proving.” For example, the … Continued

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[Ed. Note: Yes, it is not Thursday. But something happened. See, I wrote all these posts in one afternoon and the scheduled them weeks into the future. This week, we were scheduled to run my masterpiece about the much misunderstood … Continued

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I was in a seminar my freshman year of college when one of my classmates identified “the penultimate example” of something we were reading about. I was appalled. I thought I had gone to college to get away from this … Continued

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I don’t know what people are thinking when the use the word “nonplussed” to mean the opposite of “moved” or “impressed”. Maybe that those things are “plusses” and the person is not any of them. The word “nonplussed” means “surprised”, … Continued

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[I have lately been noticing more and more of the most appalling errors in English grammar and usage. And not just from the president. Maybe I’m getting old and curmudgeonly. So that you are spared the embarrassment of the most … Continued

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