Issue

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Issue

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:05 pm

• issue •

Pronunciation: ish-yu • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. That which comes forth, comes out, comes up, as an issue of fluid from the body or the issue of a river to the sea. 2. That which comes out, is published to be offered for sale, as a magazine, stamp, or bond issue. 3. Something that comes up, a topic of conversation, a question, as a legal issue or an issue discussed at a meeting. 4. Offspring, progeny, as to die without issue. 5. (US Slang) A problem, as there are issues with the program.

Notes: I have tried to capture the broadest sense of the word in the first definition, then to show how this sense is retained in all the other nuances of the word. This word is as often used as a verb: to issue a warrant, to issue supplies. This noun comes with two adjectives, issuant and issueless. The verbal sense permits issuance, a Latinate noun meaning "issuing".

In Play: The most general sense of today's Good Word is this: "The issue here is how do we get the mess cleaned up and not who made it." However, in the US at least, issue is fast becoming a euphemism for problem: "Constance Noring has become an issue the company has to deal with."

Word History: Today's word comes from Old French issue "a way out, an exit", the past participle of issir "to go out". Old French inherited this word from Latin exire, which is a combination of ex- "out (of)" + ire "to go". The Latin verb ire comes from the Proto-Indo-European root ei- "to go", which we also see in itinerary and transit. That is it in janitor, too, from Latin ianitor "doorkeeper", made up of ianua "door" + it- "go" + -or, a personal noun suffix. The Russian word for "go" and "come" is idu "I go/come". Irish bothar "a road" originally meant "cow's way" from bou- "cow" + itro- "way"—no disparagement intended of modern Irish roads. (Now let us show our gratitude to Dave Schneider, who issued the suggestion of today's quite interesting Good Word.)
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LukeJavan8
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Re: Issue

Postby LukeJavan8 » Thu Aug 29, 2013 12:07 pm

Interesting word: gives new meaning to phrases and poems
like "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood", and the
"road not taken" and Bob Hope's "Road" movies.
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Re: Issue

Postby Perry Lassiter » Thu Aug 29, 2013 12:48 pm

I have issues with the last meaning of "issue," which has become a vacuous cliche along the lines of "awesome."
pl

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Re: Issue

Postby Slava » Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:11 pm

Now, where would the phrase "take issue" fall in the definitions?

It's fun to realize that issue is related to exit. They both mean going out, but are far from interchangeable.
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Re: Issue

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Aug 30, 2013 1:24 pm

Perry: Issue def 5 (US slang); awesome meaning anything from truly awesome to just okay; literally for figuratively (I don't care what the "authorities" or other English speakers say, if I literally fell out of my chair I would be on the floor hurting.); unbelievable for amazing - English is going to hell in a hand-basket.
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Re: Issue

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Aug 30, 2013 2:31 pm

You prefer prescriptive rather than descriptive definitions? I'll join you as soon as the first involves NEVER using "lay" when you mean "lie." And reserve some place for splitting infinitives ONLY when so doing clarifies the sentence.
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Re: Issue

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Aug 30, 2013 3:19 pm

I wouldn't rule out all descriptive definitions. I don't have much against split infinitives. Word uses that change the meaning of the word to its opposite give me trouble. I am aware there is a long history of that. Ravel and unravel mean the same. Sometime I shall "shuffle off this mortal coil." Then the world can continue going to hell in a hand-basket. I will not be on board and won't care a fig about English grammar and usage. Lately, everything I want to quote seems to come from either "Hamlet" or "Macbeth".
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Re: Issue

Postby Perry Lassiter » Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:29 pm

When the orchestra breaks up after a performance of Bolero, can they be said to be unRaveling?
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Re: Issue

Postby Slava » Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:41 pm

When the orchestra breaks up after a performance of Bolero, can they be said to be unRaveling?
Ouch! Great, but ouch. :lol:

Though, come to think of it, I did see a live performance of Bolero once upon a time. The drum part is played by one performer, and it is a percussion version of a death dance. I'm quite sure the drummer was quite unraveled toward the end. It looked like he was about to collapse.
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Re: Issue

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:33 am

By the time the orchestra finishes playing Bolero, I am due an unRaveling. Not than any Agoran would ever watch the movie "Ten", but the heroine, played by Bo Derek, used Bolero as an aphrodisiac.
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Re: Issue

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sat Aug 31, 2013 12:14 pm

When the orchestra breaks up after a performance of Bolero, can they be said to be unRaveling?


:roll:


However, in the last couple of years there is a new
composition of the "Little Drummer Boy" Christmas song
with Bolero in the back-ground: it is quite nice.
Listen for it this season.
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Re: Issue

Postby MTC » Sat Aug 31, 2013 9:41 pm

Leave it to the Law to strike a discordant note in a musical discussion, but we cannot overlook the importance of "issue" in legal analysis. First year law students are taught ("hammered with" would be more accurate) the IRAC method, an acronym for Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion. Here is a link to a description of the method with examples:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRAC If you have ever wondered how lawyers are programmed to think , this is a good place to start.

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Re: Issue

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Aug 31, 2013 10:47 pm

I thought IRAC was a middle east country full of cantankerous people who fight each other if they can't fight us?

Compare and contrast "rules" and "laws" in this setting.
pl


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