The existence of the mancha-neil tree does not beg the question how many different ways

can a tree actually hurt you.

But it does show that you can't always use taste to tell whether something is safe to eat.

Grammar girl here, I'm a neon-foguri and you can think of me as your friendly guide to

the English language.

We talk about writing, history, rules, and other cool stuff.

This week we'll try to figure out whether the new use of begs the question is egregious

according to the old meaning of egregious or egregious according to the new meaning

of egregious.

And then we'll talk about the difference between online and remote learning and why it matters.

A follower who goes by Reef and counter on Facebook asked, quote,

Grammar girl, how can the definition of egregious now be the complete opposite of its original

meaning?

How does that happen?

Through gradual acceptance of misuse, such as bad or wicked, unquote.

Egregious has an interesting origin and an even more interesting history.

It's one of my favorite language stories.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, around 1550, egregious meant remarkable in a

good sense.

It was only a good thing.

But just a few years later, by 1566, people were also using it to mean remarkable in the

bad sense.

...