Vivian:

No, it's not a "semantic trick." It's the logical result of asking what the question "why?" actually means. Unless you think that "nothing" can be the cause of something, then any "why?" ('what is the cause of...') question presupposes something as an answer.

In addition to calling Copleston's question "epistemologically absurd," Smith says any question about a cause or explanation for the universe "reduces to nonsense." It's not the failure of the language; it's the stupid question.

I read recently that someone asked, if there are no stupid questions, what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they wise up just in time to ask questions? Just askin'.