What about "almost as big *of* a thing."

It's been years since I heard anyone not insert the pointless and ungrammatical "of." I see it in print now, too.

"Is, is (that)" is everywhere in speech. Listen to CNN and you'll hear what I mean:

"The great thing about it is, is (that) it's incredibly economical!"

Maybe it began as a stammer. Now it's probably the spoken norm.