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"It is what it is"

Discussion in 'LGBT Later in Life' started by greatwhale, Jan 17, 2015.

  1. greatwhale

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    Greetings,

    One of the perks of being over a half-century old (gulp!) is that one notices patterns and progressions that take decades.

    One of these is the expressions or clichés people use; they seem so tied into the general zeitgeist. Since I speak English and live next to the USA, I am naturally most exposed to the expressions that come from down there, but I'm sure there are others.

    Expressions, or clichés, that seem to have come and gone include: "going forward" or "at the end of the day". Lately, I have often noticed the expression "it is what it is", and it has been used quite often in the past few years. Could it be related to a new fatalism after the most recent (and still intractable) economic crisis? Or perhaps America's current political gridlock? Or maybe it's (just as Freud's cigar) just a fashionable expression...

    I'd welcome any other expressions/clichés you may have used or remember using or noticing. This is not restricted to the USA, by the way, I'm sure there are other expressions in English that seem interesting.
     
  2. howsit

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    I think it definitely has to do with the wider cultural context of non-judgement and complacency. There's very little anybody can criticize anymore without being deemed intolerant: obese people, alcoholics, "sex addicts," smokers, LGBTQ etc. I find the fear of being judged for having a non-mainstream opinion causes this nihilistic fatalism--"it is what it is" (read: I may not agree or disagree, but I'm not going to really stare my opinion). It seems to also provide a huge barrier to legitimate, productive discourse. Soon we'll be saying Israel "is what it is" because you'll be considered an anti-semite for criticizing their foreign and domestic policies. Well if Harper gets his way.

    That said, "C'est la vie" is the basically the equivalent and that's been popular for some time. Probs even before YOU were born *gasp* :wink: .
     
    #2 howsit, Jan 17, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2015
  3. biAnnika

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    Oh, I *hate* "it is what it is" (as I hate most of these kinds of expressions). I do find it somewhat reassuring that people need a go-to cliché for accepting things as they are...I just wish they'd find a non-tautological way of expressing that notion...it's like they've hit on the *notion* of acceptance of reality, but aren't willing to commit to it.

    At least in the US, "going/moving forward" and "at the end of the day" are far from gone.

    But the one I'll contribute as a particularly annoying expression is "back in the day". I don't know where it came from...the very first time I heard it was when a much younger acquaintance was asking the question of "where did this 'back in the day' come from? when did people start saying that?" Like the expression had been around long enough for him to be questioning its origins, and *I'd never heard anyone say it*. Then all of a sudden, once he'd mentioned it, it was friggin' *everywhere*, and I couldn't stand it.
     
  4. Richie.

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    When you stop taking responsibility for the things you can't control you're a happier person.

    As the great Elsa says. 'let it go'
     
  5. PatrickUK

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    "When all's said and done"... "Whatever will be, will be". I have actually heard those two expressions used together.
     
  6. biAnnika

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    LOL Richie, are these two examples? :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: Or are you suggesting that somebody here is actually taking responsibility for these phrases?

    There's quite a difference between finding something insipid and taking responsibility for it.
     
  7. Spaceman

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    "Everything happens for a reason" drives me crazy! So when a plane full of innocent people crashes into the ocean there had to be a good reason for it?!? No, sometimes bad things just happen. I guess it helps people cope with the cruel randomness of life.

    ---------- Post added 17th Jan 2015 at 11:25 PM ----------

    Oh and "flesh it out" as in to "flesh out an idea or concept." Mostly annoying (and comical) when people incorrectly use "flush" instead of "flesh" which is more often than not.
     
  8. BMC77

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    No idea.

    I only became conscious of this saying about a year ago when I heard video talk delivered by a minister. (I am not generally up on the latest hot words/phrases/etc.) IIRC, he mentioned "it is what it is" being something he and his late wife would say as her health declined. She died in 2008, so I'm assuming they were using that phrase before the recent economic mess.

    ---------- Post added 17th Jan 2015 at 11:48 PM ----------

    There probably is a reason. Such as: "the pilot completely f:***:d up!" Or "oops, we forgot to check that important plane part during the last servicing." Or...
     
    #8 BMC77, Jan 17, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2015
  9. BMC77

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    I hate to admit this, but I do actually like the past tense of it is what it is: it was what it was. It reminds me that the past was what it was, not the ideal I wish it had been...
     
  10. Brandiac

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    I should do that. Way easier than hating on everything and everyone for how stupid they are.
     
  11. Kaiser

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    "YOLO".

    On one hand I hate it, but on the other I encourage it. Darwinism at it's finest.
     
  12. greatwhale

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    I kind of like that, because it acknowledges that the past can't be changed, it does not have the fatalistic aspect of its use in the present tense.
     
  13. Rawrzilla

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    Hold on greatwhale! We have super-competent, Stanford-educated journalist Gretchen Carlson's incredibly insightful take on this! Gretchen, tell it like it is.
     
  14. greatwhale

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    What a deep-thinking ditz...she is what she is...
     
  15. Rawrzilla

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    And what's your take on that, Gretchen?

    [​IMG]

    As sharp as always. Back to you (and the general point of the thread) greatwhale! ​
     
  16. bingostring

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    "It is what it is" feels like quite a new one … but it really annoys me but I don't know why … because it is quite sensible when you think about it :icon_bigg
     
  17. TacobellKFC

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    It is what it is.....to me that's the half ass answer to things people do not understand....example "why do kids shoot up schools" or "why are people gay" or "why does dad drink so much" the easy answer "It is what it is" its easier to say "i dont know"....I have a personal hate to this saying
     
  18. kindy14

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    que sare, sare

    what will be, will be

    probably showing my age with that one. Who remembers hearing that growing up?

    ---------- Post added 18th Jan 2015 at 03:57 PM ----------

    Interestingly the phrase, it is what it is, isn't actually recent. (Maybe just hearing it more now?)

    It Is What It Is - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
  19. BMC77

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    Present tense it is what it is does seem fatalistic. I was thinking of that about the time I posted my last comment, but didn't around to it.

    Sometimes accepting things are the way they are is the only path. But all too often, it's easy to take a bad situation, and say it is what it is. And then decide it's impossible to fix or will take too much energy or...
     
  20. skiff

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    Hi,

    Many of you may recall these...
    [​IMG]
    I worked for them in the 90's

    The All Star is interesting...

    Once sneakers became "fashion" the All Star established a pattern. It took ~10 years for a cycle. It would be HOT then wain only to repeat a decade later.

    Because of its look it is popular with social rebels. Everybody loves the bad boys. When the rebels adopted theAll Star society would follow the trend. Hot shoe sales. Then it became the norm, BORING. Rebels abandoned it as it became hot, and the cycle waned until a new set of rebels rediscovered it years later and the cycle repeated.

    I would bet language follows similar trends.

    Tom