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Chris -- 2025-05-10
This is a relatively new one. Sometimes it’s “The bottom line is is …”
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This is extremely common, especially in speech—Google “the problem is, is” and “the reason is, is,” using quotations marks, and you’ll see what I mean. I heard it just today, from someone who was having a great deal of trouble verbalizing his thoughts. The second “is” seemed necessary to coordinate the two parts of the sentence, after a pause.
The construction has been much discussed by linguists lately, see, e.g., http:
//linguistlist.org/issues/3/3-44.html. Also “the reason is, is. . . ” I’m pretty sure there was a Language Log post on this recently, but I can’t find it. Can anyone help me out?
BTW, and for what it’s worth, this post should probably go under “Slips, Innovations and Reshapings.”
David F.
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Thanks for the clarification. It’s obviously not a new reshaping of speech, just new to my ear.
A Linguistlist poster remembers this construction used commonly in the 1950’s.
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