The thing is, certain phrases in English crop up as little verbal stepping stones.
One of those phrases is “the thing is.” It’s a little bit like a baseball pitcher’s wind-up, where the beginning of the move gets you ready for the pitch.
The thing is, this phrase can seem like a tautology—something that’s obviously true no matter what, so it doesn’t really have any value or added meaning at all, like “it is what it is.”
On the other hand, the thing is that you can buy some time to collect your thoughts. Maybe that’s why it seems a little jarring to read here, since I have as much time as I’d like to collect my thoughts while I’m writing. You’re certainly more likely to come across “the thing is” in spoken word conversations than in writing.
The thing is, it is what is is. What’s a “thing”, though?
The word "thing" comes from Old English, pronounced very similarly, but with a letter at the start of the word that represents that “th” sound: þing. This wasn’t quite the same word as today—it mainly meant an assembly, council, or meeting where decisions were made and matters discussed. This use even survives today, albeit in languages other than English. Modern Scandinavian languages like Icelandic use þing to describe their parliament.
How did we get from a word that meant “an assembly” to “pretty much any object, anywhere”?
Often, words begin with a very narrow, specific meaning and gradually broaden. Þing is an excellent example of this phenomenon, as people began to use the word to mean matters discussed in the assembly (and not just the assembly itself).
This little migration is called metonymy. It’s a pretty small jump from a metaphor that’s occasionally used to a metonymy that’s now used everywhere to represent a bigger concept. “The Crown” could certainly refer to St. Edward’s crown that was placed atop the head of King Charles during his coronation, but you’re much more likely to hear it to mean the British monarchy, or maybe even the government, than a particular ornament.
The thing is, the word "thing" has become almost completely abstract.
The thing is, “the thing is” is a really useful phrase in another way: it’s like putting your arm around the other person’s shoulders, showing them that you’re on the same side as them.
You’re not attacking them personally with a thing they need to pay attention to. You’re talking to them about the thing. The implication is that, together, you can do something with or about this thing.
Language is endlessly fascinating in this way: you start with a word or phrase, and then time and culture do their work. Generations later, you end up with a completely different meaning—and you can usually trace that path.
What are some interesting turns of phrase you find yourself using without any real connection to the original meaning behind the words? The thing is, I bet you can find some today!
If you enjoy thinking about language as much as I do, you might enjoy reading this next:
Or, this piece I worked on with
on a different way of creating language:
Or, this one that includes a little bit of Monty Python:
Good one! Really never wondered about that before. But glad to know.
The thing is, the Danish parliament is called "Folketinget" (literally "The People's Thing.")
But the thing is, "tinget" can also mean "the thing" in Danish, exactly as in English.
So "tinget" is not just one thing, but many things.
It's confusing to have words that have multiple meanings, but that's just the thing, isn't it?