"It depends on what your definition of 'is' is"

Factual Questions
1

This quote I have heard attributed to Clinton, but I missed the origin. Does anyone know?

2

Supposedly he said it while testifying in the Monica Lewinsky thing.

3

This quote comes from President Clinton’s Aug. 17 grand jury testimony before Office of the Independent Counsel prosecutors investigating the president’s relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

He testified Jan. 17 1998, in the Paula Jones case. In that case he answered questions about Monica Lewinsky. The purpose of his grand jury testimony was to find out if he had committed perjury when he testified in the Paual Jones thing. The quote about "definition of “is” is. Was really not that important. But it sure sounds funny. Here it is:
His full answer:

4

Clinton, being a lawyer and all, is known for playing with words to the point of confusing things to where no one knows what’s going on. This example was just so obvious that it was clear to everyone he was not trying to clarify anything or answer anything, just hide the truth by confusing the issue.

So, is Clinton a liar? It depends what the meaning of “is” is. If at this moment he is sleeping I guess you can argue you cannot say he “is” a liar at the present moment.

5

Just to clarify what the original statement was - he was asked whether he was having a sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinski. His reply was something along the lines of “There is no relationship.” Clinton was (sort of) telling the truth, because the relationship at that point had ended.

He was definitely trying to obscure the facts, but was he lying? Depends on what your definition of “is” is.

6

The questioner screwed up by not invoking the formidable “are you now or have you ever been in the past” line so popular in prime-time TV shows. It’s funny how American Standard English doesn’t seem to have a simple way of expressing this important state of “to be”. Many less accepted dialects certainly do.

This is where the additional flexibility of ebonics could have nailed the President down:

Inquisitor: Mr. President, you bin pokin’ that ho Monica?

Pres. Clinton: Shit, no.

Inquisitor: But you bin pokin’ that ho, right?

Pres. Clinton: Man, f**k you, bitch!

Where “bin” (with emphasis) moves across tenses to imply “are now and have been for some time”, whereas “bin” (no emphasis) implies “are now or was at one time”.

Or at least that’s the way I learned it from NPR.