Learn English – the construction of “It’s the best there is”

sentence-construction

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to, he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.

"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.

I think the Doc meant it's the best one out there. But the construction is strange and not seen very often, is it kind of idiomatic phrase?

Best Answer

This is a common construction. Similar to that one are the phrases "it's the best I can do" and "what's the worst that could happen?"

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