https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/opinion/it-is-what-it-is.html
"On a recent podcast, Bill Gates asked me my least favorite word or expression.
On the fly, I chose “It is what it is.” As I explained, “People say it when
really what they mean is ‘I don’t care.’”
Since the podcast aired, I have been surprised to see this passing comment
getting around quite a bit in the media. And the verdict on my observation
seems — at least from the missives sent to me — divided just about down the
middle.
Many tell me that they, too, have always hated the phrase for the same reason.
I even discovered in writing this newsletter that my colleague Frank Bruni had
taken the phrase to task last year (“the most degrading sequence of five words
in the English language”) and William Safire had commented on it in
The Times
all the way back in 2006.
But others, often oddly heated up about the matter, have scolded me that I am
misreading the phrase. To them, “it is what it is” means merely that one must
sometimes make one’s peace with misfortune or difficulty rather than getting
torn up about it. On this reading, “it is what it is” is essentially an English
version of “que sera sera.”
It’s clear, for starters, that people are missing that I meant my observation
as a basically trivial aperitif rather than the imperious pronouncement from on
high that many seem to have taken it to be. But more important, while I am
aware that “it is what it is” can be used in the “que sera sera” way, I do not
agree that my interpretation of it is therefore incorrect. Rather, it is an
example of how common it is in language for words and expressions to have more
than one meaning, despite the fact that we rarely notice it."
Via
What Could Go Right? September 14, 2023
<
https://theprogressnetwork.org/air-travel-safety-accessibility-improvements/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
