Defend the Indefensible: "It is what it is."

Because:
a) I'm just totally sick of hearing it and
b) It's not really a very deep thing to say (but usually delivered like it is)

Er:
a) I am..
b) It is not..

It is what it is.

I mean, it is its own justification.

I tis wha tit is

Isn't this thread a revive from like a year or two ago???

it just means "I don't fucking want to talk about that", but said in a gentlemanly way. Yay for manners.

has its uses as a corporate cliche if you want people to shut the fuck up and not repeat the same points they're already made 7 times

it is what it isn't

it's a good, phlegmatic phrase which stops you stewing about stupid shit.

there's a really good jazz tune by leon parker by this name

"hey could you put a logo inside a logo, and then 6 shots of the product? whitespace? who cares."

hey burt!

"Suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly somebody will say like 'plate' or 'shrimp' or 'plate of shrimp', out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one either; it's all part of the cosmic unconsciousness."

You can't really defend this statement, it just is what it is.

it is what it isn't

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan)

I once released an album with that title.

I guess libcrypt made that joke already.

how could it be anything else?

It was what it was

It is what it is NOT

chew on THAT

If you were fixing to kill yourself over it, would you like to know if it was something else or if it was exactly what it is?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/84/269587227_a5b243d7f0.jpg?v=0

It's a cross between "shit happens" and "I hate you."

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513EOdhxwQL.jpg

it's the title of a really fucking amazing Derrick May track. easy.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000DR70.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is what it is

http://www.jjona.it/immagini_discografiaSito/bevis08.jpg

it means "stop complaining"

http://practicaleq.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/07/epictetus_1.jpg

this phrase is heavily invested in the status quo

don't worry, be happy

rent i disagree

"we have to get across that open field in order to storm the tower and save the town"

"we'll be sitting ducks!"

"it is what it is"

but hear the resignation, the laconic tautology in the place of invention?? a real hero would find a better way and then the townspeople would be saved and have a banquet in his honour

now they'll be stuck probably with another 100 years of mongol indentureship or whatever, which they'll bear by repeating "it is what it is"

It's preferable to people obsessing about things they can't change, though, like things that have already happened or been done and are in the past. Let's move on, shall we?

hi laurel!

Hi, Pete! Sorry, I keep missing you when you're here, btw!

it's like dat

and dat's da way it is

I don't think it's an indefensible statement at all-- it acknowledges the irreducible properties of an object which can't be altered or changed, only accepted and dealt with. Saying so allows those dealing with a thing to move from that point. Also used to mean, "It's only going to get to a certain point, because of its inherent limitations, so let's not worry about those characteristics." A useful, if overused, statement.

Apologies if post is repetive. IIWII.

C'est la guerre

this is the kind of shit people say a lot on reality shows, along with "threw me under the bus"

At my last contract, it was "We are where we are!"

Which was great because it would shut up annoying complaining clients who had caused our delays in the first place.

0:23-0:50

This expression is the ofay-ization of the soulful expression "What it is!"

Michael, what was the term you were using to describe Calvin & Hobbes -- "zen stoicism?" I think this phrase is like the Everyman / Joe Sixpack version of "zen stoicism."

Yeah, nabs, but I also kind of agree with M. V.'s "It's a cross between "shit happens" and "I hate you." There's definitely a hint of "I really have no interest in talking to you about this further" in it for me.

I'm kind of haunted by the French I cited above. Saying 'War is war' (essentially) belies a culture that has experienced enough of it to be far too cynical about it, though I think that's the kind of expression that originated before the 20th Century.

There's a special way people say this in films when they screw you over, kinda like saying "it's business" to someone as you push them over a railing -- do people ever use it this way in real life?

Only when I'm pushing people over railings, naturally.

before i kill you i just want you to know...it is what it is

This is reminding me of how little consolation there is in, "It's nothing personal."

- "YOU ... how could you betray me? For money? I thought we were friends!"
- (shrug) "It is what it is, Rick." (lowers circular saw)

This is reminding me of how little consolation there is in, "It's nothing personal."

i have a grudging respect for sayings like this (and other businessese) cos they are useful. ppl talk like this because there isn't time or reason to get worked up or super detailed about whatever shitty situation they are stuck in.

ie "we have x to take care of before y date but z dependencies are being blown out of proportion and marge and dave from testing still haven't written their specs for the LAST thing..." "it is what it is"

it has a "who gives a fuck, none of this shit is real anyway, even if it's stressful"

...kind of meaning

it just means "I don't fucking want to talk about that", but said in a gentlemanly way. Yay for manners

it can be said in solidarity, not entirely to squash debate about what the thing is (but still kinda doing that too)

Yeah, I see this used typically only in interviews with athletes who are being asked, "how did it feel to lose that big game?" and they're like, "it is what it is", which suggests the goal is stopping the conversation.

TS: "it is what it is" vs. "whatchagonnado"

thank god my current boss doesn't use this phrase - my old one did and i fucking hated it, wanted to kill people everytime i heard it.

"There's a special way people say this in films when they screw you over, kinda like saying "it's business" to someone as you push them over a railing -- do people ever use it this way in real life?"

^^^^
yes

It pops up somewhere in the Pacino-De Niro diner 'showdown' in Heat.
(But that's before it was such a cliche to say).

"The NFL is the NFL," he said. "They want it how they want it. I gotta play ball how I'm gonna play ball."

next level

nick saban: "the big thing is: it is what it is, we are what we are"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXvmSaE0JXA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voNqVTuSCXE