Hysteresis operators are illustrated, and a weak formulation is studied for an initial- and boundary-value problem associated to the equation $\left({\partial }^2/\partial t^2\right)\left[u+\mathcal{F}\left(u\right)\right]+Au=f$; here $\mathcal{F}$ is a (possibly discontinuous) hysteresis operator, $A$ is a second order elliptic operator, $f$ is a known function. Problems of this sort arise in plasticity, ferromagnetism, ferroelectricity, and so on. In particular an existence result is outlined.