Begging the question. I do not think it means what you think it means. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
(Grammar-nazi-ing aside, I completely agree with you.)
(Grammar-nazi-ing aside, I completely agree with you.)
The transitive use "begs the question X" (where X is some actual question) is commonly used that way and well-understood (and this usage is, while idiomatic in structure, fairly obvious from the usual definitions of the words involved.)
This is readily distinguished from the intransitive use "begging the question" or "begs the question" to refer to the petitio principii fallacy (an idiom based in what was, at the time, a poor translation into English that hasn't gotten better with age.)
Even better, the intransitive use can be seen as (though this reverses the etymology) a special case of the transitive use in which the question begged is the original one the argument sought to address -- the justification for the conclusion which has been assumed in the petitio principii fallacy -- so that the transitive use that you complain about both generalizes the special intransitive case and rationalizes it with common usage.
I guess there is a difference here between American and British English, not so much in what is formally accepted, but in common usage. American English seems to quickly adopt grammatically/syntactically/semantically incorrect phrases that become popular; "touch base" or "call out" or even "${X}gate" comes to mind.
If either of the uses of "begs the question" is more grammatically/syntactically/semantically incorrect, its the original transitive use, which is an abomination of failed translation into English, through Latin, of a straightforward Greek description which entirely fails to capture the meaning of the original and was an abuse of the English language at the time it was created. Its only claim to any kind of correctness is its history of use through which a clear understanding has developed despite its problems.
Of course, the newer, transitive use also has a solid (though shorter) history of use, is clearly understood, and, moreover, is structurally distinct from the transitive use, so it doesn't create any ambiguity or confusion with that use.
England is full of bad English speakers (and, no, that wasn't some jab at immigrants). In particular if you aren't middle class or above.
Bad analogy: imagine if the Python docs were to recommend handling try-blocks with "except: pass" simply because many people do it.