Language. Ahh, she's a funny thing. I like how words gradually change their connotation and become exactly what they were trying to avoid.

Perhaps this happens to humans too? We become what we are trying to avoid becoming. Gaze long enough into the abyss and it gazes back into you. Philosophy. Ahhh, she's a funny...

Back on topic.

Here's a lineage to consider: Mistake -> Bug -> Issue.

I am pretty sure when the first programmer made a mistake, his boss came up with a coffee-cup dangling from his talons and said, "Ummm...yeah, there's a mistake in your code."

Too direct. No one likes that word when applied to their work. So a new word was born that was meant to deflect the directness: bug.

"There's a bug in your code."

Sounded better.

For a while.

Then even that started to bite. It got tarnished by association.

So we invented yet another euphemism. Bug Tracking systems became Issue Tracking systems. No more: "Have you fixed that bug yet?" Nobody talks like that now. Now it is: "Have you looked into that issue yet?"

Now that we've used it long enough, the word "issue" itself has now become loaded. What used to be a bland and amorphous word now has specific meaning and has to be used carefully.

I leave you with this clip from the late incomparable George Carlin on the subject of euphemisms, delivering the message as only he can deliver it.