This reminds me of the double "is" construction (ISIS) that​ has become so
prevalent, from the President down...

On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Hancock, Craig G <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> If you do a search on COCA, you come up with 8544 entries, many of them
> sentence opening. When we have this kind of frequency of use, it's fair to
> say that it's a construction and may have developed meanings and functions
> AS A UNIT that are separate from its component syntax. If I write "the
> problem is Charlie," then the sentence is straightforward. But if I write
> "The problem is, Charlie is stupid," then "the problem is" can be seen as a
> thematic opening to a statement about Charlie.  (Similar to Dick's "to my
> chagrin," or even "unfortunately.")
>     I haven't the time to do a full analysis, but there does seem to be a
> pattern. When "that" is included, no comma. When "that" is left out, the
> comma is routine.
>     Here's an example from Cosmopolitan (the first on the list): "The
> problem is, if we look at the summer and the trajectory is up, he..."
>     This one is from the New York Times: "The problem is, it isn't easy
> politically to make a 180 degree turn."
>     Another from fiction: "The problem is, the murderers have snatched one
> of our people."
> The structure ("the problem is" plus comma as sentence opener) seems
> common in respectable places.
>
> Craig
>
> ----Original Message-----
> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Hagen
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 10:51 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: The problem is(,)
>
> I vote for the comma. My reasoning is, the example uses a bare content
> clause (i.e., 'that' is omitted) in a circumstance where omitting the
> subordinator potentially creates confusion. Notice what I did in the
> previous sentence? I think the comma is even more necessary there, as it's
> much easier to read "the example" as the complement without the comma. In
> other words, if I omit the comma there, I risk creating a garden-path
> sentence.
>
> Using the comma to avoid this misreading is parallel to using one in
> elliptical constructions:
>
> Alice favors construction grammar; Bob, transformational.
>
> What we really have are two comma rules that conflict, and we need to
> decide which one dominates (if I can borrow the terminology of Optimality
> Theory). If we say that the normal no-comma rule takes precedence over the
> use-commas-for-elliptical-constructions rule, then we're basically saying
> you cannot omit "that" in this context, which is clearly descriptively
> wrong. (By the way, does anyone know of an Optimality Theory study of
> English punctuation rules?)
>
>
> > On Jan 28, 2015, at 7:19 AM, Dick Veit <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > My adult ESOL students love the "Dear Abby" advice column, and I came
> upon this sentence in today's column:
> >
> >        The problem is, I'm not attracted to him.
> >
> > Should the comma be there?
> >
> > Like me, I'm guessing your first response is no, since a comma between a
> verb and its complement (or object) is nonstandard.
> >
> > On further thought, I'm not so sure.
> >
> > There are two ways of reading those words. One is with unstressed "is"
> and no pause between "is" and "I'm." If the comma is omitted, a reader is
> likely to assume this reading.
> >
> > The sentence can also be read, however, with stress on "is" and a pause
> before "I'm." The case for the comma is:
> >
> > (1) A writer can't invoke this reading without the comma, and
> > (2) This reading is equivalent to "To my chagrin, I'm not attracted to
> him"--i.e., "The problem is" could be considered adverbial, making the
> comma appropriate.
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> > Dick Veit,
> > emeritus linguistics prof and volunteer ESOL teacher To join or leave
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-- 
John Chorazy
English III Honors, AP Lit
Advisor, *Panther Press*
Pequannock Township High School
973.616.6000


Noli Timere

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