Wednesday 17 March 2010

Mysteries of the Modern World: The Double Is

That's the Double Is as in 'the reason is, is that...'. 'the thing is, is that...' Everybody's doing it, including broadcasters. Jeremy Bowen, that hireling of the Zionist lobby (hem hem), did it on the Today programme this morning, in the construction 'the reason is, though, is that...' Keep your ears cocked and you'll hear it several times a day - and it's only started happening recently. Why? I'd suggest that it's another semiconscious attempt to give a simple statement extra emphasis in a world that is full of noise of one kind and another, and where in everyday use words seem to be losing meaning and impact. This probably also explains the extraordinary increase in the use of 'strong language' (a telling term) in everyday discourse, even among the perfectly respectable, but especially in the public arena. As for the Double Is, perhaps it is also related to the fact that a generation brought up without formal lessons in grammar (or Latin) have little sense of the structure of language, of what the words they use are actually doing. Or perhaps the reason is, is that...

10 comments:

  1. I believe I've heard Obama slip into the Double Is a few times. And what about "continue on"? Isn't that used in the same way as "continue"?

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  2. The double is has long been a working man's tool:

    "Yeah but what it is, is... yeah what it is, is - right? - what it is, is... is the bloke what put this in in the first place used the wrong connector, dinne? This is goin a costyer I'm afraidmate"

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  3. I like the use of 'double check'. Invariably it's used to describe a mere check. In fact, I don't believe anyone ever simply checks anything anymore. It's a meretricious conveyance of an unwarranted solicitude. So there.

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  4. " I don't believe anyone ever simply checks anything anymore." Well' 'course not. They check it aht, dun they?

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  5. is 'is is' fit for purpose?

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  6. Ah but Brit - 'What it is, is' makes sense. 'The thing is, is' doesn't, it's simply a repetition...

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  7. A vile offspring of "the fact is".

    Which, I very much regret to say, can be laid of the feet of Americans.

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  8. I'd be interested to hear what you'd make of the Kiwi 'yeah...no' Nige - it's hard to get a straight yes or no out of a Kiwi in conversation and it is bizarre! A colleague of mine is attempting to do a study on this weird linguistic tic...

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  9. Yeah - no - that's an odd one. Is it something to do with the Kiwi national character, like 'beached is'?

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  10. "Yeah-no" is actually quite expressive: the "yeah" indicates that the speaker has understood the situation to which the other has called attention, while the "no" represents the conclusion, based on that experience. It's more sympathetic than a straight "no."

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