Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Digest of [e-mail] issue 1422 (76278-76327)

[Stroller]

On 3 Mar 2008, at 15:17, Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:

> On Monday 3 March 2008, Stroller wrote:
>> On 3 Mar 2008, at 09:57, Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
>>> On Monday 3 March 2008, Jan Seeger wrote:
>>>> NOTE: I don't speak spanish. But somehow, I read it thusly:
>>>> On Mon, 03. Mar, mvidela@××××××××.ar spammed my inbox with
>>>>
>>>>> todos los temas relacionados con soporte técnico
>>>>
>>>> all technical support requests (relations?)
>>>
>>> all technical support-related issues
>>>
>>> Ok, not that it changes much... :-)
>>
>> Noooo! It changes EVERYTHING!!
>>
>> "Issue" is word to describe an individual periodical in a series of
>> publications, and is a weasel-word when it's used as a synonym for
>> "problem".
>
> Ok. Literally, the word "tema" (pl. temas) would mean "subject, theme,
> topic, matter". The degree of "problematic-ness" intended by whoever
> wrote "temas" can't of course be deduced, but only guessed.
> In my interpretation, I took "todos los temas relacionados con soporte
> técnico" as meaning "anything related to technical support", so issue
> seemed an acceptable translation (where "issues" include "problems" as
> well, of course).

Hi Etaoin,

I didn't mean to be picky about your translation, so my apologies for  
that. And thank you to Uwe for pointing that out - I didn't intend to  
be taken that way, I just wanted to have a little rant about one of  
my (least) favourite words.

However you can also say in English "all matters relating to  
technical support".


>> Clearly if your computer isn't booting it's a PROBLEM, not merely an
>> "issue", so we can tell that the author of the email is engaged in
>> the sort of environment where weasel-words are employed.
>>
>> I have dealt with such technical support departments in the past - I
>> knew of one at which the management insisted that staff were not
>> allowed to describe a dead PC as a problem because that "sounds too
>> downbeat". Such scenarios were to be passed off to the customer as
>> merely "an issue" ("however seriously we're addressing your issue,
>> sir"), rather than the disaster it actually was.
>>
>> </pet peeve>
>
> Agreed. I know that kind of environment.
>
> So, are you saying that "issue" means "nuisance" or "minor problem"
> rather than "real problem", and using the word to mean "problem" is
> incorrect? Or you just hate it when they say "issue" when they really
> should say "disaster" (in this case, I totally agree with you)?

Issue kinda doesn't mean any of these things - neither "nuisance" nor  
"minor problem" nor "real problem". It's a way of _avoiding_ saying  
any of these things at all.

The dictionary I have on this computer is the New Oxford American  
one, and it basically says:

   issue, noun
   1 an important topic for debate or discussion : the issue of  
global warming | money is not an issue

This dictionary goes on to observe the "he has issues" usage, but  
really this is just the same (fairly recent) euphemism.

The best way (IMO) to perceive the word "issue" is the global warming  
one or the couple who are "going to marriage counselling because they  
have issues (to talk about)". In the former case it's a matter of  
public debate, in which everyone has a view and in which people are  
entitled to opposite views; in the latter case there are likewise two  
ways to see the situation and the solution will be found through  
discussion and compromise. An "issue" is a two-way street, in which  
opinions go both ways.

The use of the word "issue" within technical support is wide, and so  
you'd never lose marks for using it in a translation as you have; I  
suppose I must admit that - with the evolution of language - the word  
has perhaps become a synonym for "problem". But this usage is a bit  
of co-optation - one doesn't like to admit one's software has  
problems, so one uses the word "issue" instead. "Problem" sounds so  
negative, an "issue" is just something to be worked through.

As I say, my objection to this usage stems from one company whose  
staff were prohibited from the use of the word "problem". But  
technical support problems are frequently NOT a two-way street, and  
they're not something for discussion & compromise the way your  
spouse's habits might be. If I've bought software from you and it  
crashes every time I press print it truly IS a problem, and use of  
the word "issue" to describe this is, IMO, weasly.

I hope this helps to explain this fairly obscure entomology. I don't  
pretend to be a definitive source (I'm not a dictionary), and mine is  
perhaps a bit of a minority opinion. But as a non-native speaker I  
guess you may be interested in why I said what I did, so hopefully  
this clarifies.

Stroller.
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