used in the sense of "eager" for "over 250 years"; 52% of AHD4's Usage Panel accepts its use in the sentence "We are anxious to see the new show of contemporary sculpture at the museum." Also, it suggests that the use of anxious to mean "eager" may be mild hyperbole, as the use of dying in the sentence "I'm dying to see your new baby." RH states bluntly that "its use in the sense of 'eager' ... is fully standard." M-W defines anxious as "3 : ardently or earnestly wishing <anxious to learn more> / synonym see EAGER" Chambers gives "3 very eager • anxious to do well." B barbaric and barbarous – Barbaric applies to the culture of barbarians and may be positive ("barbaric splendor"); barbarous applies to the stereotypical behavior of barbarians and is negative ("barbarous cruelty"). This is standard English usage. However, M-W equates the third meaning of "barbaric" with the third of "barbarous", that is, "mercilessly harsh or cruel"; COD11 and Chambers list "savagely cruel" and "cruel and brutal; excessively harsh or vicious", respectively, as the first meanings for "barbaric". Only AHD4 disallows this usage, and without comment. Undisputed. The environment of the venue was barbaric. Undisputed. Terrorism is barbarous. Disputed. Capital punishment is a disgusting, barbaric measure. begging the question – In logic, begging the question is another term for petitio principii or arguing in a circle, in other words making assumptions in advance about the very issue in dispute. It could also be understood as "beggaring the question", i.e. making a beggar of the question. It is now often used to mean simply "raising the question" or "leading to the question". The latter usage does not match the usual pattern (e.g. "begging for money", "begging for mercy"), which would suggest "begging for the question". Undisputed. You argue that Christianity must be true because the Bible says so. Isn't that begging the question? Disputed. You want to go to the theatre. That begs the question which day we should go. but – Some argue that if and should not be used to begin sentences, then neither should but. These words are both conjunctions; thus, they believe that they should be used only to link clauses within a sentence. AHD4 states that "it may be used to begin a sentence at all levels of style." C can and may – Some argue that can refers to