[ExI] Language Changing Before Our Very Eyes

[gts]

My guess is that the idiomatic use of "issue" as a synonym for "problem"  
came to us courtesy of the software industry. I was in the software  
business back in 1982, and as far as I can remember, in those days bugs  
were always called "bugs". Then, sometime perhaps in the mid-80's or early  
90's, bugs became "issues" --- probably the idea of some long-forgotten  
legal or marketing exec at a major software company.

I don't have an issue with "issue" because it really is the better word.  
It implies something close to "controversy" (the word "issue" has this  
legitimate connotation in the legal profession) and controversies do not  
imply judgements of fault or even the necessary existence of tangible  
problems. We cannot know if a real problem exists, and where or what the  
problem is, or who or what is at fault for the problem, until we  
understand the *controversy* i.e., until we understand the *issue*.

Sometimes the bug is with the customer's wetware rather than with the  
software, and "wetware-bug" is close to the idiomatic use of the word  
"issue" to mean "mental problem". So there is at least a bit of logic to  
the evolution of the psycho-babble connotation.

-gts