Is it what it is?

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com

The most annoying phrase in the English language has got to be, "It is what it is."

No shit, it is what it is. What question does that answer? If you say "Hey man, I heard you and your girlfriend broke up. How are things going?" and your friend responds with "Eh. It is what it is.", what question is that answering exactly? I mean no shit, it is what it is. The only way that answer could be construed as pertinent to the conversation would be if your question were actually, "Hey man, I heard you and your girlfriend broke up. Is it what it is?" Then he cleared up the cloud of misconceptions with the illuminating "It is what it is." Furthermore, only a goddamn imbecile would ask a question like that.

Hines Ward was in the news today. When he was asked his feelings about a teammate laying him out in practice his response was "It is what it is." Again- no shit. Did Hines say that pre-emptively out of fear someone may allege, "I saw the tape, and I feel that it is not what it is. How would you respond to that"? Did Hines really find that a viable threat? And if someone did ask that question, they'd probably be wearing a helmet and a straightjacket while they lick the window of the short bus.

The philosophical and linguistic break down of that phrase looks like this:

It is = It is

How unintelligent do you think your audience is? You mean to tell me that you assumed they did not know something equals itself? I mean, that's pretty fucking insulting. If your friend called you up and said, "Here's the thing, I'm gonna let you in on a little something that most people don't know: 7 equals 7." You'd either be insulted or think "Wow, my friend is a real fucking moron." You'd be correct to think the latter.