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What People Mean When They Say It Is What It Is
‘It is what it is’. The phrase sounds comforting, easy-going, and even relaxed. There’s no fighting to be done. But here, let’s dive into another potential meaning of this phrase.
I’ve had the chance to work with a German-based company in Malaysia and the manager was a man who was upbeat, sometimes optimistic, clear-cut, and I, at times, would also describe him as sly.
Everyone in the office knew and sometimes teased him about his popular saying, ‘It is what it is’ and I honestly thought nothing about it when I first met him. I thought, ‘I guess he’s got things figured out and is 100% sure of what he is doing with his work and life. His ducks are just in a row. There’s nothing wrong with THAT.’
A Hidden Meaning of ‘It is What it is
I recently saw a video of Jimmy Kimmel interviewing Jerry Seinfeld for his latest Netflix venture, 23 Hours to Kill, and one of the clips shown during the segment was one of Seinfeld’s delivering a side joke of people who often said things like ‘Business is Business’, ‘A deal’s a deal’, ‘It is what it is’, ‘Rules are rules’.
He said, ‘If you say something twice in one sentence, you can say it with much more confidence!’, he joked.
