Mea Culpa: call a problem a problem

Questions of language and usage in last week’s Independent, adjudicated by John Rentoul

Greggs stores were forced to close due to something slightly more severe than an ‘issue’ (PA Wire)

I know this is a losing battle, but I shall fight on in the jungle and I shall never surrender. On Wednesday we carried the headline: “Greggs shops close across the UK as IT glitch causes payment issues.” My objection to “issue” is that it is a euphemism. It gained ground as companies and public services tried to avoid using the word “problem” because they thought that reflected badly on them.

They were wrong, because customers prefer organisations that admit to problems and try to fix them.

Greggs had a problem with its computers (a better word than “IT”, incidentally) in that they would not accept electronic payment. As the shops were actually closing, the company could hardly pretend that this was a mere subject for discussion, which is what an “issue” used to mean. I would have been tempted to rewrite the headline thus: “Greggs shops close across the UK as its payment terminals are borked.”