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

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

On Monday 3 March 2008, Stroller wrote:

> 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.

No offense at all. Instead, I was genuinely interested in finding out 
whether I was missing something.  

> 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.

Thanks. This covers and goes well beyond the simple meaning of "matter, 
subject" that I was assigning to the word.

> 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.

I usually like to call a spade a spade (I think this is the english idiom 
for the concept), so "problem" is perfectly fine for me in these cases. 
Moreover, I'm the first to admit my faults, so if something I did or 
wrote does not work, I have no problem (pardon the pun) in saying that 
it has a problem unlike, as you point out, some companies or technical 
support departments (but it seems to me that the same holds for many 
politicians, managers, etc.).

> 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.

Yes, I guess it may be called an euphemism (usually coupled with some 
amount of hypocrisy, in my modest experience).

> 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.

Surely I was interested, and I thank you for your detailed explanation.
You cleared all my issues! :-)
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