the question is, is....

[David Morris]

It seems that you are not alone in wondering about the origin of "the
thing is, is."

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001123.html

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=689FCFA2BFABDEB124E9C86254830DD8.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=51705

This paper examines an English construction which is very common in
speech, but rare in writing. This construction is referred to as the
thing is construction, as in: The thing is, is we've got to be strong.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/idioms/the-thing-is
the thing is idiom
The issue, main point, or problem is, as in The thing is, we haven't
enough money for the tickets. [Colloquial; late 1800s]

On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 8:19 AM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
> half-watching the health care Finance Committee mark-up sessions, I heard
> Sen Menendez, D. NJ, speak. He is fluent in Spanish as well as English, I believe. Maybe neither one is a second language.
>
> Anyway, in articulate English, he has Doc's verbal habit of saying, "the thing is, is....etc."...
>
> So my question of the more bi-lingual and intermixed-living (those who have lived among natural Spanish/English speakers) Plisters is, does that verbal habit come more naturally if one speaks Spanish as well as English?  Due to verb construction or whatever?