I heard this kind of expression in conversation:
1)
A.- You should go to school and learn.
B.- All right, school it is.
2)
A.- Open the window unless there is better idea.
B.- (no response)
A.- Okay then, window it is.
I do not know what meaning "it" has in these contexts. I mean, I have hard time to find out which entry of "it" has exact meaning for this use.
Through the already answered questions and answers ( "xxxx it is then!", what does it really mean? Comma or no comma in reaffirmation of answer? "____ it is" or "____, it is" ), now I know it comes from "[okay] it is xxx (then)" but the above examples do not have "then" at the end unlike the first page example. Even so, as the second page example, it does not have to have "then" at the end for this use, I understand.
Anyway, is this usage of "xxx it is" a mere inversion of "it is xxx"? Or is there a special grammar term for this "it (is)"?
Best Answer
The usage "xxx it is" typically connotes "xxx is the choice", after some sort of decision making process.
Here is a typical usage:
Restaurant guest: "Is the salmon wild or farmed?"
Waiter: "We only serve wild salmon here."
Guest: "Then salmon it is." (This would imply that the guest would choose something else if it had been farmed.)
The "it" in this construction would be a pronoun for "the choice", the selection", "the decision", etc.
The general term for this sort of construction is subject-object-verb (SOV) sentence, as opposed to the typical English subject-verb-object (SVO) word order. I don't know of a term for this specific type of SOV sentence, however.