2222: How 'Issue' Became a *Problem* Jan 14, 2021

The word 'issue' is gradually taking on more negative connotations from simply meaning 'topic of concern' to 'matter of difficulty'. This process is nothing new however, as seen in the word 'problem'. There are still neutral senses of that word such as in 'math problem' (some people may see that as personally negative but that feeling is extralinguistic). Historically, the word meant anything put forth as a matter of discussion, and its constituent elements 'pro-' (forward) '*-blem' (from Greek 'ballein' meaning 'throw') is also related to 'ballet', 'ballistics', and 'symbol'. In a semantic sense, it is also related even to 'promise' insofar as that comes from the same meaning in Latin 'pro-' and 'mittere' (to send; throw) or in other words something that was sent out beforehand.