The Singing Bird » Health

Mistakes People Make With English, Item 1

Claire — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:29:53 +0000

I don’t really consider myself a prescriptivist, but I do belong to the “don’t talk like a jerk” school of linguistics. Generally I take the view that while some “incorrect” usages of English are fine in non-formal settings, e.g. “there’s” for “there are”, ending sentences in prepositions, or not using capitals when you’re on MSN… other usages will make you look like a big moron no matter when you say them!!

Case in point:

Begging the Question
“Beg the question” doesn’t mean “bring up the question”, “raise the question”, “prompt the question”, “demand the question” or “invite the question”.

Rather, “begging the question” (question here in the sense of “issue in point”) is actually a specific type of logical fallacy, often the same as a circular argument, defined in Fowler’s Modern English usage as “the fallacy of founding a conclusion on a basis that as much needs to be proved as the conclusion itself”. It’s usually when you take for granted what you’re trying to prove (that is, your conclusion is implicitly also one of your premises), e.g. “God must exist because the Bible says He does”, or “lying is wrong because people should tell the truth”, but may also be, more generally, when one of your explicit or implicit premises is at least as assumptive or controversial as your conclusion, e.g. “All murder is morally wrong, therefore abortion is morally wrong”.

Use the phrase in this sense!!! If you’re talking about raising a question, then for the good of us all just say “raising a question”. Maybe “beg for the question” kind of means the same as “demand the question”? At a stretch? But the examples I gave are certainly more elegant phrasings and as a bonus they don’t make you look like you don’t know anything about informal logic.

This public service announcement has been brought to you by the letters C and S, as in “Claire is Sick :(“.

Edit: Wikipedia list of common misconceptions is interesting!

Stuff That I Have Been Doing

Claire — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:09:11 +0000

- Playing NationStates2 (poorly)
- Getting fat from being at home too much :(
- Resisting the urge to bake for fear of compounding that problem
- Taking antibiotics AGAIN wah
- Waiting to hear back about jobs? At all?? But getting offered some possible highly reputable hourly work via my old mentor teacher which will be great if it happens, and hopefully some casual stuff at my mum’s clinic
- Hoping that my teacher’s registration goes through by Wednesday so I don’t have to do another Mandatory Notification course, laaame
- Cleaning up massively! All my stuff is SO ORGANISED.
- Upgrading to a queen-size bed… with bargains! 50% off on my quilt, two complete sheet sets for $30, 60% off on my quilt cover, 35% off my mattress and free delivery… and $99 bed frame from Ikea to be acquired on Saturday! So many bargains.
- Praising modern medicine. Antibiotics are wonderful!
- Knitting
- WISHING I HAD A JOB

Good Record-Keeping

Claire — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:40:43 +0000

Claire’s #1 Weight Loss Tip:

Write down everything you eat, every day.

If you want to take it further, count the calories.

Obvious but effective!

I am bored because MSN is dead :(

Freaky!

Claire — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:43:57 +0000

I had a nap with my hand under my head, and this happened!!

BLUE. These were taken like 20 minutes after I woke up too… it’s fading now, but still not gone. PRETTY COOL.

Need Exam Results, and Job

Claire — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:54:30 +0000

Today is the first day in what must be months that I don’t feel sick or pain in hardly any way at all. Success!!

Unfortunately I am still all stressed out and angsty :(

More Drugs

Claire — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:35:42 +0000

Goddamnit I wish my body would stop fucking me over!!!

Suck.

Claire — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:54:49 +0000

Hmmmmmmmassignments.

Edit: And I’m sick again :( Fourth time on drugs this month. My body keeps screwing me over :( Not really handling it so well any more :( It’s exhausting and it’s freaking me out that I can’t get it to stop :(

Surreal Conversations on a Monday Morning

Claire — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:45:45 +0000

Mum: Have you lost weight? You’re looking a bit… swan-like.
Claire: Nuh, I’ve weighed the same for like a year.
Mum: Well, fair enough. You don’t need to lose anything.
Claire: Hum. My BMI is totally borderline though, it’s like 24.5.
Mum: Yeah, I don’t hold with the BMI at all (n.b. my mum is a GP). That’s crazy.
Claire: I’m allowed to weigh 48kg before I am underweight!
Mum: Well isn’t that ridiculous! Look at you! What is there to lose?!

The paper bag I got my antibiotics in says Have a Healthy Day. I think this is sweet!

Claire — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:50:53 +0000

Daaaamn.

Anyway, today Josh came over and literally sat next to me going “100 more ~~reps~~ words, okay now 100 more, look you’re nearly done!” until I finished an entire assignment! And then he made me start the next one. So now, I only have 4.5 more to finish in the next week!

Well “only”. But still it was good.

I Took a Sick Day, Cos I’m Learning!!

Claire — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:03:16 +0000

Hm so last week I had tonsillitis. I took antibiotics, it went away in time for the long weekend.

The long weekend was Good and I was not Sick.

Then I started feeling bleh again when I got home last night.

…MY TONSILLITIS IS BACK.

WHAT THE HELL, THROAT.

Third time being sick in six weeks :(

I think these are some fairly clear orders from my immune system to stop messing it around!

Which is fair enough, because I have been stressing out a lot and sleeping little.

But dear immune system: I will stop messing you around when all my ten (10) assignments are done… making me sick doesn’t get them done faster, stupid!!

Hindsight

Claire — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:51:52 +0000

Shauny did this meme: What is something you’d love to say to your younger selves of 2, 5, 10 and 15 years ago? I did not get tagged, but I am doing it anyway!

15 years ago (1993, year 4, age 10)
Take a deep breath; it’s okay if you’re not at the top of the spelling ladder. Don’t spend so much time making your homework colourful, you over-achieving suck-up.

10 years ago (1998, year 10, age 15)
Actually, messing around with Beth in S&E (and Religion, and English) is a perfectly worthwhile way to spend your time; it’ll be years before you’re this happy again. Just stop being so damned idealistic and try writing something gritty once in a while. Also: size 12 is not fat.

5 years ago (2003, 2nd year of BA/BLaws, age 20)
Retreating into self-destruction is not going to solve any of your problems. Stop waiting for someone else to step in and fix things for you. Don’t just stick it out. Listen to some My Chemical Romance, get brave enough to figure out what’s wrong with your life, grab a bunch of platitudes if that’s what it takes, love yourself, forgive yourself, remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day and stop generalising your minor failures, and believe that you can pull it together. And transfer out of Law!!

2 years ago (2006, 1st year of MA, age 23)
Don’t take your white sneakers to Uluru, they will never not be orange again. Learn to turn down boys more clearly. Eat more frozen peas and drink less fruit juice. Never take temp work. Keep your chin up!

I had tonsillitis this week. Woo \o/

Phew

Claire — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:01:50 +0000

Asthma Phase is go.

Achoo

Claire — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:20:06 +0000

Left school early again today. I haven’t missed teaching any of my actual lessons but I suspect it still doesn’t look great that I keep running off… but gosh I’m a mess. I keep taking the Codral and it keeps not fixing me :( I FEEL SO DISILLUSIONED. Although today it moved from “no effect” to “Claire gets kind of high”. One of my fellow student teachers says she hallucinated a heap of cats the one time she took Codral, haha. I did not hallucinate, but I did keep spacing out in the middle of sentences while I was teaching.

This cold is totally not running to schedule. I am meant to have been in the Asthma Phase since noon :( HURRY UP!!