A high rate of speed

[Webb]

I went to the ATM machine earlier today.

[Jetranger]

Runnnnnn Forest - Runnnnnn !!!!!!

[Hagar]

Have you ever heard of people using the phrase "rate of speed" before? I have, mainly on TV during one of our local news. Usually it is during a description of some vehicular traffic incident, and some vehicle was described as moving at a "high rate of speed". What they really want to say is simply that the vehicle was moving very fast, but somehow, they think saying "high rate of speed" sounds "sexier".

This, of course, is rather inaccurate. Typically, when say say "rate of something", we usually mean the time rate of change. In calculus, it is d/dt of something, i.e. the time derivative. So when one say "rate of speed", one is actually saying ds/dt, where s is speed. This is ACCELERATION!

Now there's nothing wrong with this if the newscasters actually did intended to say acceleration (which begs the question on why they don't just say "acceleration"?). But more likely, they wanted to say "speed". So really, transposing "speed" into "rate of speed" is not only non-economical in terms of words to say, it is also no longer correct.

So, if you write for some news broadcast, and you want to say that a vehicle moves very fast, just say "high speed" and NOT "high rate of speed". If your producer or proof reader disagree, ask him/her to open a physics textbook.

I can see more than one grammatical error in this quote. Before criticising others perhaps the author needs to proof read his own work. Glass houses & all that.

I agree with the first comment on the blog that the correct expression would be "high rate of knots".

[machineman9]

Actually... Speed is a scalar quantity. Velocity is a vector. And the rate of change of velocity is acceleration (speeding up, slowing down or changing direction)

[Steve M]

After reading all this I decided I am not smart enough to make a comment.

[Mictheslik]

Also, I'd say that 'begs the question' is perfectly acceptable. The phrase is used when an interesting fact is revealed, the consequence of which is that you are begging to ask another question. i.e. the question is to be begged for.

.mic

[Webb]

Begging the Question

Many English speakers use "begs the question" to mean "raises the question," or "impels the question," and follow that phrase with the question raised, for example, "this year's deficit is half a trillion dollars, which begs the question: how are we ever going to balance the budget?" Philosophers and many grammarians deem such usage incorrect. Academic linguist Mark Liberman recommends avoiding the phrase entirely, noting that because of shifts in usage in both Latin and English over the centuries, the relationship of the literal expression to its intended meaning is unintelligible and therefore it is now "such a confusing way to say it that only a few pedants understand the phrase."

[Mictheslik]

Begging the Question

Many English speakers use "begs the question" to mean "raises the question," or "impels the question," and follow that phrase with the question raised, for example, "this year's deficit is half a trillion dollars, which begs the question: how are we ever going to balance the budget?" Philosophers and many grammarians deem such usage incorrect. Academic linguist Mark Liberman recommends avoiding the phrase entirely, noting that because of shifts in usage in both Latin and English over the centuries, the relationship of the literal expression to its intended meaning is unintelligible and therefore it is now "such a confusing way to say it that only a few pedants understand the phrase."

I don't understand. He's saying it's correct, but it's incorrect as only pedants understand the literal meaning? Sounds like a great 'acedemic linguist'. In essence he's saying that people are stupid and it might confuse them. The phrase itself makes perfect literal sense.

.mic

[Webb]

You have to read the entire article.

"Begging the question" is the term for a logical fallacy in which the truth of the statement is assumed, e.g., "Opium induces sleep because it has a soporific quality".

Since no one studies logic or rhetoric any more the original meaning has been largely lost and it has become acceptable in some circles to use "begs the question" as if it meant "asks the question".

English is a flexible and evolving language, though, and "begs the question" will through continual usage eventually come to mean "asks the question".

[jetprop]

I know a bit about maths ect. but grammar is too complicated for my brain.

[Mictheslik]

"Begging the question" is the term for a logical fallacy in which the truth of the statement is assumed, e.g., "Opium induces sleep because it has a soporific quality".

I think that's incorrect.

'to beg' is a verb
'to ask' is a verb

the act of begging is an act of asking, but more desperate and (probably) more important

Therefore in this context, the question can be begged (to be answered), or asked.

However, if an answer is needed desperately (i.e, when the phrase is most often used) then it makes perfect literal sense for that question to be begged for.

So in answer to your original post, whether it begs or asks the question depends on how desperate one is for an answer.....

.mic

[Bud Greene]

After reading all this I decided I am not smart enough to make a comment.

ditto

[Xpand]

Actually... Speed is a scalar quantity. Velocity is a vector. And the rate of change of velocity is acceleration (speeding up, slowing down or changing direction)

Acceleration is also the variation of speed over time in certain situations. If the velocity vector maintains its direction, then it's not wrong to put ds/dt instead of dv/dt, in which ds is variation of speed (Magnitude of the vector).

I believe this is more of a technical physics question