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Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:45 am
Post subject: Issue or problem |
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Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact difference
between an issue and a problem.
Thank you.
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Salvatore Volatile
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:45 am
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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Fred wrote:
| Quote: |
jmetillon@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1130442350.436743.116460@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact difference
between an issue and a problem.
It's a euphemism; the same as the difference between a sex worker and a
whore. I've got a feeling this one started with Microsoft, who never ever
have problems, but they have so many 'issues' they have to number them.
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No, I think we found that this popular usage of "issue" goes back to
pop psychological jargon, and at least to the 1970s. |
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Fred
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:21 am
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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<jmetillon@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1130442350.436743.116460@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact difference
between an issue and a problem.
It's a euphemism; the same as the difference between a sex worker and a |
whore. I've got a feeling this one started with Microsoft, who never ever
have problems, but they have so many 'issues' they have to number them.
>
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Armond Perretta
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:35 am
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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jmetillon@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: |
Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact
difference between an issue and a problem.
|
A problem is invariably an issue (neglecting maths). An issue is variably
a problem.
--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:52 am
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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<jmetillon@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1130442350.436743.116460@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact difference
between an issue and a problem.
|
Both these (ancient) words were taken up as
poliitically fashionable in the late 20th century.
1. "Problem" was word chosen by American
space scientists as a neutral word for breakdowns
or accidents, that sounded distinct on radio, and
would not alarm members of the general public who
could listen to the space scientists' conversations
via broadcasting. E.g. news of a catastrophic
accident on Apollo XIII was reported as "Houston,
we have a problem." The word then became
generally fashionablel i.e. was widely adopted by politicians,
professors, news reporters etc.
2. "Issue" was chosen by social scientists as a
"non-judgmental" categorization of behavioral
problems (e.g. adultery, truancy, drug addiction.)
They could then write about their subject-matter
(e.g. broken families, juvenile delinquents, etc.)
while pretending they were not condemning this
behavior (as doctors, judges, policemen etc.
condemn such behavior.) The word was then
adopted generally as a euphemism. E.g. if
someone drinks too much he may say "I have
alcohol issues:" this offers a non-judgmental
social label without admitting guilt or accepting
responsibility for getting drunk.
It has become difficult in some contexts to see
whether either word is used in its ancient sense
or with currently fashionable intentions.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada) |
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batdorf
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:48 am
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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"Don Phillipson" <d.phillipson@ttrryytteell.com> escribió en el mensaje
news:aNb8f.483$XR4.1772@newscontent-01.sprint.ca...
| Quote: |
Both these (ancient) words were taken up as
poliitically fashionable in the late 20th century.
[.....] |
Well done.
I am glad that you issued forth to resolve this problem.
HumphreyB |
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Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:44 am
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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Thank you Don, this is the explanation I needed.
So I assume that an issue is a lighter way of saying a problem.
An euphemism as Fred said.
Speaking of euphemism from Microsoft, it's reminds me "this is not a
bug, this is a feature". |
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Charles Riggs
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:08 am
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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On 27 Oct 2005 12:45:50 -0700, jmetillon@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact difference
between an issue and a problem.
|
In the context you are referring to, they mean much the same, the
difference being that "issue" is a word dweebs often favour over
"problem"; "problem" is good enough for most of us.
--
Charles Riggs |
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Mark Brader
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:44 pm
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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J. Metillon:
| Quote: | Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact difference
between an issue and a problem.
|
"Problem" is more specific. It means something is going wrong right
now. The baby is sick, the dog's broken into the garbage, the car
doesn't have enough gas to reach the gas station, there's an invading
army on the horizon, all of our favorite TV shows are now scheduled
for the same time slot.
"Issue" really includes anything that needs to be discussed. It
could be a current problem; it could be a possible future problem
that we should take measures to prevent; it could simply be a topic
that we don't agree on.
Both words also have other meanings, of course.
Don Phillipson:
| Quote: | "Problem" was word chosen by American space scientists as
a neutral word for breakdowns or accidents... The word then
became generally fashionable i.e. was widely adopted by
politicians, professors, news reporters etc.
|
Does anyone else here believe this?
| Quote: | E.g. news of a catastrophic accident on Apollo XIII
was reported as "Houston, we have a problem."
|
First, at the time the astronauts said this, they knew something had
failed, but they didn't know how catastrophic it was.
Second, that is a common misquotation. For the actual wording, see:
<http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Timeline/apollo13chron.html>
| Quote: | "Issue" was chosen by social scientists as a "non-judgmental"
categorization of behavioral problems (e.g. adultery, truancy,
drug addiction.) ... The word was then adopted generally as a
euphemism. E.g. if someone drinks too much he may say "I have
alcohol issues:"
|
True. On the other hand, "The issue is that you have a problem with
alcohol" uses the basic sense of "issue" that I described above.
--
Mark Brader | "...it doesn't even fulfill the most basic
Toronto | requirements for a good text editor, such as
msb@vex.net | having a built-in mail reader." -- Per Abrahamsen
My text in this article is in the public domain. |
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John Holmes
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:53 pm
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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jmetillon@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact
difference between an issue and a problem.
|
Simply, a problem is something to be solved; an issue is something to be
debated.
If somebody calls a problem an issue, it probably indicates an evasion
of responsibility.
--
Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au |
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Jordan Abel
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:55 pm
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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On 2005-10-28, batdorf <bat@nospam.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
brians@wsu.edu> escribió en el mensaje
news:1130509620.477187.269670@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
But this reminds me of the story that Neil Armstrong
carefully composed in his mind his "first words on the moon" as
"That's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
He is also reported to have said, under his breath, "Good luck Mr.
Bernstein."
Some years later he was asked to explain.
Apparently, when he was a young boy playing in the street with a ball
and that glove thing that young American males appear to be so fond
off, the ball disappeared onto the terrace of an elderly couple called
Bernstein, who were his next door neighbours at the time.
As he climbed up to retrieve it, he became aware of a heated
conversation in which Mrs Bernstein was heard to declaim:
"Whadya mean you want oral sex? You'll get goddam oral sex when the kid
next door walks on the moon!" 
|
Snopes debunks this at http://www.snopes.com/quotes/mrgorsky.htm
Gotta love "And yes, we know that's a picture of Buzz Aldrin." |
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brians@wsu.edu
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:27 pm
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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I agree that the astronauts surely didn't originate this use of
"problem." But this reminds me of the story that Neil Armstrong
carefully composed in his mind his "first words on the moon" as "That's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." In the
excitement of the moment he omitted the "a" when he actually spoke it
aloud, however, making it much less impressive. There's a good essay on
this at http://www.snopes.com/quotes/onesmall.asp. |
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Donna Richoux
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:37 pm
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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brians@wsu.edu <brians@wsu.edu> wrote:
| Quote: | I agree that the astronauts surely didn't originate this use of
"problem." But this reminds me of the story that Neil Armstrong
carefully composed in his mind his "first words on the moon" as "That's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." In the
excitement of the moment he omitted the "a" when he actually spoke it
aloud, however, making it much less impressive. There's a good essay on
this at http://www.snopes.com/quotes/onesmall.asp.
|
Speaking of problems, may I call your attention to this one:
------- TO USERS OF THE GOOGLE GROUPS INTERFACE:
A recent change at Google Groups is causing its users to create messages
that don't quote any previous material at all, which is baffling to our
readers. If you're going to use the Google interface to reply to Usenet
posts, please perform this extra step:
(1) click "show options" next to the poster's name, and
(2) click "Reply" in the line:
Reply | Reply to Author| Forward | Print | Individual Message
This will put quotations and attributions in your message, just as other
newsreader programs do.
--
Thanks -- Donna Richoux |
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batdorf
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:12 pm
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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<brians@wsu.edu> escribió en el mensaje
news:1130509620.477187.269670@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | But this reminds me of the story that Neil Armstrong
carefully composed in his mind his "first words on the moon" as
"That's
one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
|
He is also reported to have said, under his breath, "Good luck Mr.
Bernstein."
Some years later he was asked to explain.
Apparently, when he was a young boy playing in the street with a ball
and that glove thing that young American males appear to be so fond
off, the ball disappeared onto the terrace of an elderly couple called
Bernstein, who were his next door neighbours at the time.
As he climbed up to retrieve it, he became aware of a heated
conversation in which Mrs Bernstein was heard to declaim:
"Whadya mean you want oral sex? You'll get goddam oral sex when the kid
next door walks on the moon!" ;)
HumphreyB |
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Steve Hayes
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:48 pm
Post subject: Re: Issue or problem |
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On 27 Oct 2005 12:45:50 -0700, jmetillon@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | Hi, I'm not English speaking and wondering what is the exact difference
between an issue and a problem.
|
An issue is debated, it is the subject of disagreement between people.
A problem is well a problem.
Sometimes problems become issues, and issues often cause problems.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk |
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