Conference thebay::joyoflex

What the problem is is that someone might have removed the first word of
this sentence, which I think is itself correct.

Dave

Thanks.  That hadn't occurred to me but it is quite plausible.  See the
following note for a discussion of whether intelligibility constitutes
correctness.  Since that note references this one, see some previous note
about self-referential sentences.  Note that these references make me feel
all at see...

I am straining to follow this logic . . . 

Although a case could, I suppose, be made (I myself am not up to
it) for the grammatical legitimacy of "What the problem is is
that . . . " isn't it still better to say "The problem is that . . . . "  
It's so much cleaner, so much more precise.  I don't know how the
double "is" construction got started, but shouldn't we strive, for
the sake of reduced ambiguity at least, to stop it???? 

Mark

You can use the "what" phrase anywhere as a kind of noun phrase:

	This is what I want
                -----------

You can also use it as the subject of the sentence:

	What I want is a house in the country
        -----------

But can be used with any verb:

	What the problem is is that people don't speak precisely.
        -------------------

I think you're right; it is much cleaner to say "The problem is..." but I 
don't think the other way is incorrect.  In any case, I was just trying to 
answer the question of how the incorrect sentence, "The problem is is..."
might have come about.

Sure, but. It is unfair to make the spoken language conform to the same style
rules that the written language does. "... is is..." is bad style in writing; in
speech it is often too dificult to think about the topic and what you're saying.
If someone has a mannerism of saying "is is," it can be as annoying as saying
"y'know" all the time. But why call someone on it if it's a random occurance
caused by the thought processes?

	Jon

This note reminds me how annoyed I am every time I hear the concluding
words of the song "All the Things You Are"

... someday I'll know that moment divine when all the things you are are mine.

    A black man asked God:
      "God, is you white, or is you black?"
    And God replied:
      "I am what I am."
    
    The man asked again:
      "No God, please, is you white, or is you black?"
    And God said:
      "I am what I am."
    
    Finally the man shouted:
      "Please God, you have to tell me, which are you.
       Is you white, or is you black?"
    And finally God told him:
      "You know, if I were black, I would have said,
       'I is what I is.'"

    ----- (10 years pass) -----
    
    God reads notes 79.*
    
    God says:
      "I am what I."

    What the problem with is is is is is is is hard to parse.

    
    Isn't there one too many is's in there..or one too few.
    
    What the problem with 'is is ' _is_ 'is is' _is_ hard to parse (six
    is's) or 
    
    What the problem with 'is is is' _is_ 'is is is' _is_ hard to parse
    (seven is's)
    
    Roger

    Re .9
    
    The problem with 'is is' is that 'is is' is hard to parse (but it
    is correct in some cases).
    
    What the problem with 'is is' is is that 'is is' is hard to parse
    (but it is correct in some cases).
    
    "What the problem with 'is is' is that 'is is' is hard to parse"
    is grammatically incorrect.
    
    However, in the grammatically correct:
    "What the problem with 'is is' is is that 'is is' is hard to parse",
    it is acceptable to delete that "that".
    
    Therefore:
    What the problem with 'is is' is is 'is is' is hard to parse.
    
    The number of "is"es was correct in .8.