The reason/point being

[Beverly Flanigan]

Yes, this is common, and goes way back, I suspect (my h.s. teacher railed
against it too).  But the substitution of 'being' for 'is' is what
interests me.  I had never heard this substitution before coming to
southern Ohio, but I suspect it's generational rather than regional, since
I get it in student writing as well as in speech.

At 02:32 PM 11/5/2004, you wrote:
>I've heard several people say (and others lament) the following:
>"The reason is because..."
>
>Rachel
>
>Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OHIOU.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: "Big-Foot/Bigfoot Land"
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>This is totally unrelated to anything, but Wilson's "the point is that"
>>reminded me of two alternate constructions:  "the point being that" and
>>"the reason being that."  How common are these, and is there any regional
>>siting for them (I doubt it, but--)?
>
>--
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>
>Rachel E. Shuttlesworth
>CLIR Post-Doctoral Fellow
>University of Alabama Libraries
>Box 870266, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0266
>Office: 205.348.4655/ Fax:205.348.8833
>rachel.e.shuttlesworth at ua.edu