3 Definitions and a Lie: ISSUE
The issue is how many meanings this word has
Saturdays are perfect days for homonymous surprises. Surprise—we’re talking about the many meanings of the word issue!
One of the most maddening aspects of language is how words can carry multiple–sometimes even contradictory meanings–I’m looking at you, contronyms. Careful language learners recognize that real fluency depends on recognizing secondary and tertiary definitions of common words.
Consider the word ISSUE. Three of the following definitions apply to issue when used as a verb. Which choice is not a meaning of the word?
To supply or provide
To follow afterward
To emanate or flow from
To publish, announce, or report
Of course, issue is more commonly used as a noun, with the following common definitions:
an important or unsettled matter
a dispute or problem
a copy of a periodic publication
offspring or progeny
BREAKDOWN: EX- (out) + IT- (to go) [same roots as exit?!]
Have you determined which definition is not a meaning of ISSUE?
The lie is choice 2, which describes a very similar sounding word…
ensue (verb) - to follow afterward; to take place as a consequence
BREAKDOWN: EN- (in, upon) + SUE- (to follow)
“Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws.” –Mayer Amschel Rothschild