Talk:issue

inquiry:

Is not the most common American pronunciation actually ĭshyo͞o IPA: [ˈɪʃju ] ?Jakob37 06:53, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for deletion.

This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.

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issue

[ Mestee sense ]

Pardon the pun, but my main issue with this is the capitalisation. Shouldn't it be Issue with a cap.--Dmol 01:43, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

Delete. Mglovesfun (talk) 11:03, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

I was probably too bold and already moved it to Issue. My apologies for jumping the gun like this. Next time I'll slow it down. Please feel free to add comments (objections to the capitalized version especially, but others as well) before this is closed. DAVilla 05:22, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

I think this is clearly a good decision. Mglovesfun (talk) 10:28, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Noun

"Any question or situation to be resolved"

Regression in display

@Colin McLaughlin: Following your 2024-12-18 edits, the display of this sense broke. There are 2 items with number 1 and 2 with number 2, which is particularly confusing when the quotations are hidden. I'm afraid the list/indentation syntax is wrong. --Chealer (talk) 14:33, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

@Chealer Thank you for your message. I did 23 different Wiktionary edits on 18 December 2024; I am not sure which edit you are referring to, so please could you clarify, with a link to the relevant page edited, or provide further information so I am clear what you are talking about and can sort the problem out. Thanks. Colin McLaughlin (talk) 06:46, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Hi @Colin McLaughlin,

You can see the page edited by clicking the Entry tab at the top, and then the 2 (related) relevant edits by clicking View history at the top. Chealer (talk) 16:03, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

OK, I have corrected this. Colin McLaughlin (talk) 08:03, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Euphemistic sense (problem)

Origin and suitability

When did the euphemistic noun sense (meaning "problem") begin being used (i.e., "He has issues")? 71.66.97.228 21:29, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

In actuality, why has it not been discouraged as a non-definition, albeit "dumbdown" cool in vernacular (non-rigorously educated) parlance. An example from on dictionary being:

Avoid using issue as a vague substitute for more precise expressions such as problem, difficulty, or point of disagreement, as in She has some issues with your presentation of the facts. Say instead: She has some problems… The euphemistic use of issues to denote intentionally unstated problems, typically emotional or mental problems, should also be avoided, as in He has issues with his weight.

Encarta® Webster's Dictionary of the English Language: Second Edition (2004), Anne Soukhanov, editor. Bloomsbury Publishing, PLC, 2208 p., →ISBN, issue entry (page 996)

But it is not a question of when. As with much of the degradation of literacy education in the US, it is simply a usage that took on a life merely be its use by people unskilled in standard English, and often at a loss for concise vocabulary due to paucity of learning. It is a fad that needs to revert so that the thinking capacity of the populace can again match that of recent generations at over the fifth grade level. 172.58.38.164 2018-04-07 (tweaked by Chealer 2025-01-23)

Sounds like rubbish to me. Are you suggesting that people who say "issue" don't know the word "problem"? Equinox ◑ 20:19, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

The dictionary quoted above is non-trivial to consult, but I personally verified that the quote is exact. --Chealer (talk) 05:43, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

I do not know, but it may have started with the expressions:

• take issue with (possibly from "prendre issue [sur]")
• "to have issue [with]" ("aver issue (contre)")
• "in issue" or at issue―which may come from "estre a issue (sur)" (to be at issue (about))
• or "mettre en issues".

These go back to the Middle ages. --Chealer (talk) 05:43, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Origin/etymology

@LlywelynII: Regarding your major edit which adds:

A psychological or emotional difficulty, any problem or concern considered as a vague and intractable difficulty.

She has daddy issues, mommy issues, drug issues, money issues, trust issues, printer issues... Imma just sayin', girl's got issues.

…:

1. What type of printer does this refer to? The device?
2. What do you mean by "rebuild of noun per OED"?
3. What does "ders" mean?

--Chealer (talk) 18:39, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

They're edit summaries. One was a rebuild of the entry's treatment of the noun according to the content at the online Oxford English Dictionary. The other was shorthand for having added additional derived terms. — LlywelynII 11:10, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

The last 2 are about the edit summary, correct. Thanks, and what about the first question ("printer issues")? Chealer (talk) 13:22, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

I'm confused, though, why you put this discussion in the middle of the talk page inside a quote from the entry's former rfd. Surely you should move all this down out of the quote to the bottom of the talk page. — LlywelynII 11:26, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Sorry, it's not clear which quote you are referring to. Which Web browser do you use? Chealer (talk) 13:23, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Meaning/purpose

Sven Yargs proposes an interesting distinction between "problem" and "issue":

[…] the distinction […] is between matters of contention or controversy ("issues") and difficult puzzles that are in need of solving ("problems"). Obviously these two categories of things overlap—but they don't overlap entirely.

English is not my native language, but I would agree that "problem" often refers to formal problems which can have a single solution, and which are either solved or not, whereas issues can often be mitigated, in different ways. --Chealer (talk) 18:52, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

He may be trying to articulate how the terms are sometimes distinguished by some speakers. His idea is far too arbitrary and limited to be accurate for how the words are generally used, although someone else might try to add a usage note. Your distinction is entirely off. Based on that and the rather off topic questions above that, if anything, should've just been messages to my personal talk page, eh... maybe don't edit major entries for extremely common words with multiple common meanings in this language?

I'm probably not going to bother to rebuild it or realign it with the OED again but you should expect most similar edits to get heavily repaired or removed. Seems like you'd be creating needless work for yourself and others that could be better handled by working directly from sources to add new entries or doing fine tuning on your primary language(s). Just a thought from seeing these talk page entries. — LlywelynII 11:16, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Usage/Acceptance

"issue" has largely become a synonym of "problem" during the 20th century, which prompted revolt in 2006. But the American Heritage Dictionary by HarperCollins Publishers has an interesting note about an important rise in acceptance during the early 21st century:

People often use issue to refer to a problem, difficulty, or condition, especially an embarrassing or discrediting one. The word is frequently used in the plural. Thus, a business executive who has been accused of fraud is said to have legal issues, a company facing bankruptcy has financial issues, and a person who picks fights may have anger management issues. Some people dislike this usage, claiming that it is imprecise or euphemistic. The majority of the Usage Panel frowned on it in 2002, but in just over ten years, opinion has shifted such that a majority now find it acceptable. In our 2013 survey, 78 percent of the Usage Panel accepted issue in these examples: That kid has issues and needs to see the guidance counselor. I don't want to hire someone who has issues with carrying out orders from an authority. Although the acceptance was lukewarm (about a third of the panelists found these sentences only "somewhat acceptable"), this is a substantial increase over the 39 percent who accepted similar sentences in 2002. A similar shift of opinion has occurred concerning the use of issue for a technical problem. In 2002, only 18 percent of Panelists approved of the sentence There were a number of issues installing the printer driver in the new release of the software. By 2013, approval had risen to 68 percent. Although issue is now widely acceptable, choosing another word, such as glitch, problem, or complication, can often lend precision to your writing.

Although he decries it, in The matter with “issue”, Jeff Aronson shows that by extension, "issue" can refer to a discussion (or―I would say more accurately―a debate). I cannot see that sense recorded in dictionaries though. --Chealer (talk) 22:51, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

...because it doesn't mean that in any fashion. He's making fine points about the nature of the problems he considers issues in his own idiolect. He isn't using it to mean discussion or debate and afaik no one else does either. See the note above. — LlywelynII 11:20, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

It's unclear which note you are referring to, but my message is about the "The issue political/managerial" part. Chealer (talk) 13:27, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Definition

@LlywelynII: Thanks for your rewrite, but whereas the previous definition ("A problem or concern, usually of a mental nature.") may have been insufficient, the new one is too complicated. Most importantly, while senses do evolve and their usages change, a definition line is not designed to reflect that. Specifically, context labels are at the beginning of definitions. Your usage of labels in the middle of a definition must mean that the line treats 2 different definitions. Even if one originated from the other, they should not be treated on the same line. --Chealer (talk) 15:16, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

"A dispute between two alternatives, a dilemma."

@LlywelynII: Please clarify the sense "A dispute between two alternatives, a dilemma." which you added, with at least 1 quote ("dilemma" is generally not synonymous with "dispute"). --Chealer (talk) 13:35, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

I attempted to fix that with "A difficult choice" instead. --Chealer (talk) 18:12, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

in issue; plural; issue someone with something

OED: in issue shares sense 2 of at issue, "(of matters or questions) in dispute; under discussion; in question", but is common only in law.

[uncountable; used with a singular or plural verb] offspring; child or children, “Any issue who is a minor [or who are minors] will be assigned a guardian.”

Fowler (1926): The military construction, said to be not current in AmE, to issue a person with a thing, on the analogy of supply/provide,is not to be recommended.’ --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:25, 27 August 2021 (UTC)