When do we say 'problem' or 'difficulty'; when do we say 'issue'?

My car has a funny knocking sound in the engine, so I telephone the garage. What do I say? 'I have a problem with my car'? or 'I have an issue with my car'?

My neighbour is suffering clinical depression. Is this an 'issue' or an 'illness'?

My computer keeps crashing. I call the support people. Do I say my computer has an issue or that it is not working properly?

The dinner is burning in the oven. Sorry, dear, there is an issue concerning tonight's meal? Right or wrong?

A child is being bullied at school by an older child. Is this a 'pupil relationship issue' or is it 'child abuse'?

My neighbour's dog keeps barking and keeps us awake at night, so eventually I go to the neighborhood mediator. Do I tell him there is an 'issue with the dog', or that the dog is driving us insane?

If there is dog's muck on the recreation ground where children play, is this an 'issue' or a 'disgrace'?

The word 'issue' has become ubiquitous, and things that were once 'problems' and 'difficulties', or needed fixing, are now 'issues'.

Sooner or later I am going to bawl down the phone at someone who says 'I understand there is an issue with a delivery of a parcel to your address'. Yes, there's an issue alright, it hasn't been delivered!

When is a problem a problem, and a fault a fault, a breakdown a breakdown, a failed delivery a failed delivery, and when is it an 'issue'?

Your ideas please.

It might be best parsed this way....I have an issue. You have a difficulty. He has a problem.

The word "issue" always implies contention. A long time ago, female suffrage was not an issue; nobody really thought that women should have the vote.

Then, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it became an issue; many people campaigned for women's right to vote and many resisted.

Now it is again a non-issue; nobody takes the position that women shouldn't vote.

Slavery was both an issue and a problem in America in the nineteenth century. It was a problem in the eyes of anti-slavery folk because they saw it as a great social evil that caused terrible suffering. The pro slavery folk didn't see it as a problem; they saw it as a natural state of affairs that suited them just fine

But both sides regarded it as an issue. It was a matter of contention and debate and, eventually, war.

Now it is neither a problem nor an issue.

The teaching of evolution is still an issue, and some would regard it as a problem.

Strokes are a medical problem; they kill and disable people. As far as I know they are not an issue. As far as I know there is no significant disagreement about their causation and treatment.

But it makes sense to talk about the cholesterol issue, because some people regard cholesterol as a great danger while others say it's relatively harmless.

To say "my son has issues at school" when you mean, "my son is both lazy and stupid" shows you like weasel words.

To say "my computer has issues with the motherboard" demonstrates that you have no feel for language at all.

But in the world as it actually exists, very few people care about precision and accuracy in language, so don't worry about it.

Quite simply, an issue is a matter of doubt or debate or contentiom. A problem is a difficulty that needs to be solved or resolved. Anyone wishing to use these words clearly and accurately should have no diificulty in doing so if they are aware of their true meanings. Everyone else who have no respect for precision in the use of language should continue to misuse the word "issue".