American English is a rich
language. It’s always changing and evolving. New words and usages come and go.
Many that come along are helpful. They clarify, they improve, they enhance and
enrich.
But some are just plain
stupid.
They obfuscate, they
complicate, they confuse. They reveal a lack of understanding.
One that really sets my teeth
on edge (sometimes) is “issue.”
Now, this one is complicated
because “issue” is a word of many meanings. Magazines have issues. Births have
issues. Politics has issues. Discussions have issues.
People do not.
Ninety-nine times out of
ninety-nine, when someone says they have an “issue” what they really mean is
they have a problem.
What’s wrong with “problem”?
Everyone knows what it means and, unlike “issue,” it means pretty much one
thing.
But some time ago, within my
memory, someone in the psychobabble business decided “problem” was negative,
and, well, we can’t have that, can we. If we use a word like “problem” that may
have negative connotations, we might hurt someone’s feelings.
“Issue” is a whole ’nother
thing. Nothing negative about “issue.” In fact, in this use, there’s really
nothing much at all in the word “issue.”
Except that when it gets
abused like this, I, for one, have a problem.
