Are you begging the question when you should be raising it?

If you have a question, just ask it.

Whenever there’s some controversial issue in the news (and when isn’t there?) and the pundits are engaging in their usual back-and-forth, someone almost always says, “And that begs the question …” and asks a question about the issue or situation under discussion. For example:

“That begs the question: Did he know he was being recorded?”

“That begs the question: Was the plane able to land safely in spite of the engine problem?”

In that context, the correct phrase isn’t “begs the question,” it’s “raises the question.”

The correct use of “begs the question” is when you are asking for support for the premise of the argument being made.

Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty explains it this way: “Begs the question is a term that comes from formal logic. It’s a translation of the Latin phrase petitio principii, and it's used to mean that someone has made a conclusion based on a premise that lacks support. … You use the phrase begs the question when people are hoping you won't notice that their reasons for coming to a conclusion aren't valid. They've built an argument on a bad foundation.”

Don’t use “that begs the question” to simply introduce your question. Use it only when you could replace the phrase with What’s your support for that premise? or What does that have to do with anything?

Of course, if you use “begs the question” incorrectly, very few people are likely to notice—but that raises the question: Is it okay to use incorrect grammar just because most people won’t realize it?