It begs the question

I have come across this expression being used synonymously with "it raises the question". I do use it sometimes as I hear and even read it quite often in formal speech / wtiting. However, it still sounds weird to me since I got first acquinted with the original meaning of the expression. I assume there are a number of people out there (here) who are somewhat familiar with logic...so you probably know what I'm talking about.

I am not a prescriptivist in the least, so I accept that some words / expressions lose their original meaning and get a new one. But, in this case, the original meaning is, nevertheless scientific, not outdated yet. I can't help thinking of the original meaning (which is totally different from the new meaning) every time I hear / read it. I reckon most people who use it in the pedestrian sense are usually unaware of its original meaning. Am I right am I not?

I don't say this usage is "wrong" per se. What I wrote down is my opinion and as such is entirely subjective.

You say it's not wrong but you appear to imply there's something odd about it. What's odd about it? Personally I take it to mean something slightly more demanding in nature than "it raises the question". The question is like that annoying kid at school who always put their hand up to answer the teachers questions. You can't get away from asking the question. I'm rambling but don't worry I've had a few pints so I'll conk out in a minute or I'll go for a Jimmy or something. The whole phrase slips off the tongue like a cliche and I've never bothered to analyse it before saying it.

What's odd about it? "Begging the question" is originally a fallacy in argumentation, more precisely a circular type of argument, which makes no sense, such as: "She is ugly, therefore she isn't beautiful."

I came across this expression first when I studied logic. So, that's the reason why I find the new meaning a bit odd, which I have heard / read a lot in the past few years (not before). Probably "beg" is used here in the same sense as in expressions like "I beg to differ". Or as you said, it sounds more demanding than "it raises the question".

Liz,
I'd agree with you it's sort of a malapropism, linguistic flatulence. Or at least it originally was, then it caught on and evolved and stopped being as such.

"it begs the question" probably is a bastardisation of "it begets the question"