….. is….. there is no second ‘is’. One ‘is’ is enough!
I’m a bit of a linguistic fusspot and there are one or two little clunkers that really get to me. The thing is, is this is one of them…. the way people make a big thing out of the word ‘is’…. One ‘is’ really is enough! Unless, of course, we’re in the process of creating a new word….. thingis, as in: The thingis, is we’re mucking up our beautiful language, one little word at a time.
Now I’ve probably spoiled it for you. That little extra ‘is’ will be jumping out at you from every radio interview and TV vox-pop you encounter, from friends and family, colleagues and customers, maybe even from your own lips….
The thing is, it might just make a few people do away with that little surplus-to-requirements word.
Julie Lawford 