Why is the phrase begging the question often used incorrectly in everyday English?

The phrase "begging the question" is often used incorrectly in everyday English because its original meaning in formal logic is counterintuitive and poorly translated.1

In logic, the term is a 16th-century translation of the Latin petitio principii, which refers to a circular argument where the premise assumes the truth of the conclusion it is meant to prove. A more accurate translation would have been "assuming the conclusion," but the word "beg" was used to mean "to take for granted".21

In colloquial English, the phrase is frequently used to mean "raising the question" or "eliciting a question". This shift occurred because the original logical meaning is opaque to most speakers, while the structure of the phrase itself—"begging" for an answer—naturally leads people to interpret it as "inviting a question". While purists argue that the logical definition is the only "correct" one, both usages are now well-established in the language.231