208 Forms of Say
when a declarative clause follows (e.g., 18c– d), the punctuation (and presum-
ably intonation) suggests that the cleft is syntactically independent. Note the
non- standard form all’s I’m saying in (18c):^16
(18) a. Santos stares. “Fine. And all I ’ m saying is , don’t make me come out here
two times looking for you .” (2002 Esquire [COCA])
b. All I ’ m saying is , who cares if they tear it down. (2005 Twelve and holding
[COCA])
c. All’s I’m saying is , you catch more fl ies with honey than with vinegar. Get
my drift? (1995 Abbott, Ploughshares [COCA])
d. All I ’ m saying , this is Texas. (2011 ABC Primetime [COCA])
e. The reality is, all I’m saying , being credible on a TV show and a TV inter-
view is far different ... (1999 Fox HC [COCA])
(19) a. I guess what I ’ m saying is , are you guilty of the same behavior as governor ,
(2011 Fox Live [COCA])
b. Well , what I ’ m saying is , let’s get into this debate (2001 Fox Sunday
[COCA])
c. What I ’ m saying, you could invest part of the three hundred Palmer owes
you (1995 Get Shorty [COCA])
A phenomenon pointing to the frozen nature of all/ what I’m saying is is the
so- called “double copula ”:^17
(20) a. All I’m saying is, is that we certainly shouldn’t be using military interven-
tion to promote our interests in Africa (1991 ABC Nightline [COCA])
b. S o what I ’ m saying is, is that it’s nice to complain, (1998 PBS Newshour
[COCA])
c. and so what I ’ m saying is, is to get back to the idea of what made this Party
great (1998 Fox_ Crier [COCA])
16 Based on the occurrence of “all as” clefts in the BNC, Kay ( 2013 : 47n.5) suggests that all’s is a
contraction of all as. This suggestion would need further research, as all as clefts are not found
in COCA while all’s/ alls clefts are.
17 This sequence of two instances of is should not be confused with standard usages such as
(i) Barry’s story, and that’s all it is, is a story, (2012 NBC Dateline [COCA])
(ii) What it is, is disgusting, period. (2012 Schow, Upgunned [COCA])
(iii) The good news, such as it is, is that the fate of the dollar is in our hands (2011 Foreign
Affairs [COCA])
(iv) All it is, is chemistry. (2010 Science News [COCA])
The double copula phenomenon (also known as reduplicative copula, ISIS) has been well
studied (e.g., Curzan 2010; Yale grammatical diversity project http:// microsyntax.sites.yale
.edu/ double ), and is especially common with nouns such as the question/ problem/ fact/ point/