"Zootopia" around 00:40:49/01:48:32
Scene 17: Running the Plate
[Judy and Nick leave the Oasis; Nick turns to Judy, straightening his tie]
Nick Wilde: Well, I had a ball. You are welcome for the clue, and seeing as how any moron can run a plate, I will take that pen and bid you adieu. [holds out his hand for the pen]
Judy Hopps: The plate. I can't run a plate. Ooh… I'm not in the system yet.
Nick Wilde: [impatient] Give me the pen, please…
Judy Hopps: [turns to Nick, smiling slyly] What was it you said? "Any moron can run a plate"? Gosh, if only there were a moron around who were up to the task.
(http://zootopia.wikia.com/wiki/Zootopia/Transcript)
Is "you said" the (by the way, should I use "an" instead of "the"?) appositive clause of "it"?
Or is "it" introductory and "you said" the logical subject?
How about "What was it what you said?"?
Best Answer
It's tricky!
This is an it-cleft construction where the foregrounded element is questioned. "It" is the subject of the matrix be clause, with the relative clause appearing in extranuclear position at the end.
"It" is just a place-holder for the variable, which is defined in the relative clause, though the latter is not syntactically part of the subject.