The thing is, is that Doc's "double is" has been tracked by linguists... Fw: the question is, is

[Clément Lévy]

Hi Mark,
You already posted about that, and David Morris had found a great  
paper on the web about the question is is.
Here's the answer.
Clément


Début du message réexpédié :

> De : David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> Date : 2 octobre 2009 15:34:15 HAEC
> À : Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
> Cc : pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Objet : Rép : the question is, is....
>
> 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?
>
Le 23 mai 10 à 16:31, Mark Kohut a écrit :

> Thomas Pynchon, holder of 7 OED first use entries, situates Doc's  
> 'double is'
> before the 1971 that is indicated here. Not until late 80s for the  
> Englishers hereon. Match
> any experience of yours?
>
> Either another first use or a slight anachronism for effect. I vote  
> for first use.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_copula
>
>
>