No this has nothing to do with politics, Obama, health care, ACORN, war...it's just me ranting. To be clear, some of my original readers know me personally and know that I can rant about public absurdities other than fraudulent and regressive liberal policies.
So I have a great disdain for cliches, to me, even saying the word cliche is a cliche so shame on me. Anyway, I have a skill at noticing cliche trends right before they take over the masses who desperately seek to duplicate the behavior of the next person. It really makes me more mad than it should. I even get mad when I notice the same "type" of comedy being used in movies. It that world they use "hackneyed" which is the artistic version of the common cliche. It's all under the same umbrella (<---kind of a cliche) of lack of originality. Now some cliches have been a part of our vernacular for so long it's charming and doesn't bother me. An example? Something like "it's a piece of cake", that's not annoying. What end am I getting at? What big cliche do I despise more than any other? Well right now it would have to be...."IT IS WHAT IT IS."
It's like a screen saver for communicating. Yeah, the computer is still on but no relevant activity is taking place. It reflects our culture of contrived self accountability (have I analyzed this too much?). "Yeah, I funneled contributions from that charitable organization to buy a new car, I can't undo my mistakes, it is what it is." No one really said that but it speaks to my point of contrived self accountability. People would rather not dwell on their indiscretions and in the name of "moving on" everything done in the past...is, well what it is.
This vomit is also spewed in benign contexts as well. Not the atoning public figure but the average joe (another cliche...one that isn't too annoying) who really has no opinion or explanation or does not want to ponder why or what will be. "Yeah, I applied for a bunch of jobs but no call backs, I guess no one is hiring, it is what it is." This person either does not want to talk about it, does not care about why he/she may not be receiving call backs and shows no interest in changing his/her luck. It just is folks. It just is.
The sports world is probably the worst at using "it is what it is." When describing a player (in this case a substitute filling in for an injured player) a sportscaster or coach might say "he is what he is." I translate that as he is a human being, ball player, male...whatever. They want you to temper your expectations for the athlete and really he won't be the superstar he's filling in for. There is no room for improvement or higher performance ceiling...he simply is...a crappy player.
It is what it is has spread like wild fire (ahhhh another cliche) in the last 2 or 3 years. I'm waiting to hear it in a court room setting soon, "yes your honor, my client is clearly a murderer but he is what he is."
"iiwii" iTiSwHATiTiS
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