Learn English – “The thing is, is that…”

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This is a phrase I've heard many people use, and it sounds wrong to me; e.g.:

The thing about that is, is that she might take it the wrong way.

It seems to treat "The thing […] is"—the entire phrase—as the subject of the sentence. Of course, even if that were allowed, the comma placement would still be questionable.

I'm curious to know:

  • Is there a name for this wording?
  • Is it specific to a certain dialect?
  • Is its etymology known?

Best Answer

In the linguistics literature, they're referred to as either "double is" constructions or "thing is constructions". Various papers have been published on the subject which you should find if you Google these terms.

In one possible analysis, what is happening is that there is effectively an element such as "what" which is implied:

"(What) the thing is, is that I'm going to be late"

"(What) my feeling was, is/was that..."

Note that although they're referred to as "double is" or "thing is" constructions, the construction doesn't necessarily involve either a double "is" (notice "...was, is..." is possible) or "thing" (notice the example with "My feeling").

I'm not aware of a claim that the phenomenon is restricted to a particular dialect.

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