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Peeves

Issues with "issues"

Jan 23rd 2012, 20:20 by R.L.G. | NEW YORK

SEVERAL commenters have detected what they decry as a drift towards prescriptivism here at Johnson.  Well, guilty as charged: we all think some ways of writing and speaking are better than others, and a language blog that never criticised anything would be unusual. We've also been relentlessly descriptivist, bringing usage facts to bear on peeves we feel are unjustifiable. Johnson, like The Economist, has time for both facts and opinions.

But back to complaining.  One commenter asked, in our "What should we write about?" post, about the word "issue", used nowadays often for "problem". We don't like the drift. 

"Issue" seems to have migrated in an unusual direction, from official euphemism right down to the kids.  Beginning with "Our servers are currently experiencing outage issues," it's now unremarkable to hear a teenaged girl saying "I have an issue with you."

And "issue"-as-"problem" seems here to stay. The first results for "I have an issue with" in Google include things like "a barking dog", "a website that is potentially posting copyrighted material", "activating MS office 2010" and the like. Many are technical. A problem is a type of issue, of course: in politics we talk about the Iranian nuclear issue, the unemployment issue, the Israel-Palestinian issue. But an issue did not always need to be negative. The economy is an issue in boom times, too, even if a less salient one. 

But our style book, in a ruling this Johnson endorses, wishes that people with "issues" might just come out with it:

"The Economist has issues–51 a year–but if you think you have issues with The Economist, you probably mean you have complaints, irritations or delivery problems. If you disagree with The Economist, you may take issue with it. Be precise."

If your issue is a problem, and you want to bring it up with someone, it might be a good idea to go ahead and use the P-word. This doesn't have to be a cause for unpleasantness, but it does communicate your feelings and expectations more pointedly than "issue". Get it out there.

(But if you do have problems with your delivery, comments here are not the best way to get them addressed.)

Readers' comments

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Anjin-San

Johnson overlooks another traditional use of the word "issue", as an euphemism for an offspring. For some reason, Wikipedia entries of kings and emperors always seem to refer to their offspring as 'issues'...

jomiku

Kelly Clarkson's song My Life Would Suck Without You has these lyrics:

"Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye
Maybe I was wrong for trying to pick a fight
I know that I've got issues
But you're pretty messed up too
Either way I found out
I'm nothing without you"

That use of "issues" conveys a ton of meaning: shorthand for lots of ways you can be screwed up. The blog complaint is about when issues is too general.

ἐθνάρχης

Colleagues (who are now, apparently, "coworkers" in the US) were amused when I spoke up in a meeting to state "magazines have issues, tunnels have issues, marriages have issues; machines have breakdowns and people have problems".

E.

Connect The Dots

'Issue' is a type of Conflict, but on the milder spectrum:

Qualms- Tiff- Spat-Irritation- Issue- Problem -Quarrel- Feud- War- Generational Conflict- Armageddon Showdown

An 'Issue' is less than a 'Problem', but more than a 'Tiff'.

The Last Conformist

When people's used "she's got issues" to mean "she's completely bonkers" enough times, the word will lose any euphemistic utility it yet retains. Maybe we can go back to having problems again then?

ashbird

The quote from the teenager is so funny! And true. I don't know where kids picked up the word. But they can stare at you right in the face when they use it! Maybe from their counselor in school who is trained to mediate parent-and-child conflicts and use the I--- word a lot in talking to both in order to lessen the degree of defensiveness when there is a real "problem" on both sides.

In my own experience, the I-- words "softens" a "problem" when one is not sure how the word "problem" will be received. It is a "safer" word to use when one isn't sure. The teenager's usage, however, is, I think, an attempt to one-up the parent, acting 31 when she is 13.

Mature people can take the word "problem". But not all grown-ups are mature.

I have really enjoyed this post. It is lovely. In particular what is said in the first paragraph. It isn't about who is right and who is wrong. It is about paying attention.

TgXcguS5Wm

The last time I used the word "problem" with a manager was about 16 years ago and I had to peel him off the ceiling. I described the same thing using the I-word and all was calm, I could go about solving it.

So what's the problem with problem? Damned if I know. But I am not going to get myself flayed by using it in the office again.

jouris in reply to TgXcguS5Wm

Perhaps way too many management classes emphasizing "we don't have problems; we have opportunities." Which has led to managers preferring "issues" or "challenges" -- because their perception, rightly or wrongly, is that they will be faulted for admitting to a "problem." I would not be surprised if your experience was with a manager who was freeking out, not so much at the word itself as at the thought that, if anyone heard you, he would be in big trouble.

About Johnson

In this blog, named after the dictionary-maker Samuel Johnson, our correspondents write about the effects that the use (and sometimes abuse) of language have on politics, society and culture around the world

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