Actually it shows how unequal the US states are in terms of economic power, the average US state is on number 31, California on number 5.
Which begs the question, which is the worst doing state in the Union?
(Answer: it is Vermont)
Which begs the question, which is the worst doing state in the Union?
(Answer: it is Vermont)
Also, if you take per capita, California isn't the biggest economy in the US, it's Delaware or if it were a state: Washington, DC.
Texas versus California is a particularly bad example of this, with Texas's GDP per capita less than 1% lower.
Now I remember all the discussions I had if the GDP is actually a good indicator of the economy and welth of a nation, state, or territory.
No, it doesn't - http://begthequestion.info
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/beg-the-q...
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/beg-the...
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beg%20the%20questi...
Also, you can add "droll" to the long list of misused words.
I don't see the point of insisting the original/archaic meaning of a word is 'correct' if, in the English-speaking world we live in today, essentially nobody uses it or understands it in that sense.
[1] I certainly do not think the same about nonplussed, however. I've never heard that word being used for unimpressed before, but it appears to be simply an Americanism; one I hope never catches on elsewhere.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/nonplus...
1. Language changes, which is fine
2. If someone says "It begs the question" and follows it up with the question it "begs" (which they almost always do) it becomes clear that they don't mean "begs the question" in the traditional sense.
Clearly they always mean to say "It raises the question", but "It begs the question" also makes sense if you think about it, though it's an awkward use of "begs"