The problem is what do I tell my husband

Question

Zelda went to a marriage counselor and pleaded for help.
"I don't know what to do," she said. “I love him and he loves me. We like the same books, the same movies and the same TV shows. And when we're not together, we're both miserable."
The counselor scratched his head. "Gee, it sounds like you two were made for each other," he said. "What's the problem?"
"The problem?" echoed Zelda. "The problem is: What do I tell my husband?!"

What does the woman mean by "The problem is: What do I tell my husband"? Besides, should the word order of this sentence be "The problem is what I tell my husband”?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

It's a joke. The man she is talking about loving is not her husband. Her speech is natural, but it does not render well in writing. "What do I tell my husband?" is an embedded question. Your word order is not quite right. I would rephrase her question as "The problem is that I do not know what to tell my husband."

BillJ · Answer

The problem is: [What do I tell my husband?]!"

The word order is fine. Normally embedded interrogatives are subordinate clauses, but here it is a main clause and hence it has subject-auxiliary inversion.

The matrix verb is be, so the interrogative clause functions as a predicative complement, where it serves to specify the value expressed in the subject, "the problem" ("the x such that x is the problem").

Short amusing stories like this are often called anecdotes. The story explains that the woman is having an idyllic relationship with a man, and tells of their love for one another and of their similar likes and so on. But right at the end there's a twist in the form of the amusing punchline "What do I tell my husband?", where it suddenly becomes apparent that she is already married to someone else and the man she is describing is not actually her husband.

The problem is what do I tell my husband

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