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Full Idea
What makes ontological questions meaningless when taken absolutely is not universality but circularity. A question of the form "What is an F?" can only be answered with "An F is a G", which makes sense relative to the uncritical acceptance of G.
Gist of Idea
Absolute ontological questions are meaningless, because the answers are circular definitions
Source
Willard Quine (Ontological Relativity [1968], p.53)
Book Ref
Quine,Willard: 'Ontological Relativity and Other Essays' [Columbia 1969], p.53
A Reaction
This is too precise. No one takes such questions wholly as 'absolutes', but we don't accept G uncritically. We keep going, and the target is not a foundation, but coherence.