> It figures that a grammatical issue would be the thing to trigger my first RinkRant in quite some time. So without further ado, etc., *ahem*. In the last year or so I've started noticing that a lot of people begin explanatory statements by saying: "The thing is is..."
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> This drives me up the wall.
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> I have to assume that it comes from the similar (and correct) phrase "What it is, is..." People must have simply fallen into the habit of saying "is is," and now they use it all the time, even when it doesn't make sense. In a meeting today I heard one of our top executives say "Well, the answer to that is is [blah blah blah]..."
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> Usually the two "is"es are pronounced so rapidly in succession that you can easily miss the presence of the extraneous one. But it's there. Taunting me. Spreading its viral meme throughout an unsuspecting semi-literate population.
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> If you are one of the many people saying "the thing is is," then PLEASE, for pity's sake, try to stop saying that second "is". You'll have my eternal -- well, okay, transitory, even ephemeral -- gratitude.
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> Iss "is NOT!" achar

I've never heard this. Maybe it's a regional thing. I've lived in Wisconsin and South Dakota. I usually hear, "The thing is that..." which I think is grammatical. Maybe now.

Vida