The Japanese say "shouganai" which literally translates to "It can't be helped."
The problem is, 90% of the time, it absolutely can be helped.
Me:"It is what it is."
Narrator:"But it wasn't."
It do be like that sometimes.
Narrator: "but it ben't."
This is my new favorite sentence and now I will find a way to say it out loud.
The problem is, 90% of the time, it absolutely can be helped.
Shouganai.
I feel like "it is what it is" is too often shit on.
I had a boss from whom I learned about staying calm and keeping steady course.
His favorite saying was "it is what it is" and it was always in the context of simply recognizing the reality for what it is, instead of hoping or wishing it was something else or lamenting over how it should have gone a different way. Then, from the point of accepting that "it is what it is" we would focus on how to get to where we wanted to be.
Sure it can be used dismissively, but I feel like people always just dismiss it as a cliche when it's actually usually a very good philosophy.
"Though-terminating" is not necessarily a negative thing.
Like how your boss used it: stop the train of anger and reframe the problem in a more constructive way.
It's still terminating a thought, it just wasn't a productive thought and needed terminating.
Edit: typo
Good point, I didn't really consider that it could be used in a good way.
Although, in my defense, they are using the term cliche which usually has negative connotations.
I had a boss who used to say the same thing. He was telling us "We didn't set this dumpster on fire, but somehow it's our job to handle it. No point bitching, so roll your sleeves up and get to it." I've started saying the same thing for the same reason.
It's what it's
This term seems like just an insult wearing academic robes. And a tautology. All cliches over simplify the world, side-stepping complex analysis.
There's nothing "thought terminating" about acknowledging that a problem is beyond your scope - which is what the first two mean. I've only heard YOLO used to encourage risk-taking, which is completely different.
Realistically, these are often just social cues that you're bored with the conversation.
Obviously whether you use a cliche to avoid thinking deeper on a topic or for some other reason changes with each use. It's not inherent to the phrase.
I don't think either of these are really thought terminating cliches inherently. The phrase is more for their usage as a rhetorical device to end arguments in certain ways. They become them when they are "used to intentionally dismiss dissent or justify fallacious logic" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A9)
Thought Terminating Cliches can be useful because it is not productive to worry about things over which you have no power.
Not YOLO, though, which is often used to stop thinking about the consequences of choosing to do something stupid.
I also often hear "It is what it is" to mean "someone made a bad decision and I'm not fighting it like I should."
Or the thing has already been done.
I see it used oftentimes to dismiss systematic injustice aswell... "it is what it is"..
which on an individual level feels like we have no control over but is infact something we have a lot of control over. A very malignant useage I feel
I feel like "fuck it we ball" applies too. At least that's how I use it.
Or the Klingon "Today is a good day to die."
Instead of saying, "We're all going to die, why even bother?", they go, "We're all going to die, let's speedrun this bitch!"
Well, sometimes an end to a discussion is exactly whats needed. Sometimes. Like when theres literally nothing to do about something. Or the discussion is going in circles. Or when it would take shorter time to try it out in practice than have another meeting about the best way to implement it.
I hear “it is what it is” used as a kind of “it’s okay to move on”:
A: I hurt my back and had to cancel my vacation.
B: Oh no, I’m so sorry!
A: Well, it is what it is. What’s for lunch?
It's what it's.
Awful, added to my vocabulary
I think these phrases can also help if you are a person, like I am, who ruminates in unhelpful and damaging thought patterns.
Some of us think and agonize too much in an unhealthy way and definitely need ways to shut it down.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about this since”
That's a meme terminating cliche
But what about "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose"?
That's not a Thought-Terminator, that is life!
“Living their best life” and “Speaking their truth” are recent and annoying examples of this.
The first is always used to dismiss self destructive or irresponsible behaviour. The second is often used to make a statement that is either false, manipulative, subjective or a combination. Their isn’t a personal truth, there is only truth.
Thought-Terminating Cliches aren't self-fulfilling!
It is what it is, I guess.
Or just "thought-stoppers".
Loaded language meant to quell criticism and dissent.
Loaded language meant to quell criticism and dissent.
Jesus Christ, Lemmy is way too anarchist for me to handle sometimes.
People just don't want to think about stuff that doesn't affect them or that they can't change. Not everything is some kind of fascist conspiracy.
What?
It is what is
Isn't "designed" to short circuit cognitive dissonance...
I mean, it kind of could be put that way, but only because OP doesn't seem to know they said the opposite of what they meant to from context.
It is what it is
Means
This is fucked, but I can't help
It's not to trick someone into ending a discussion, its commiserating over a shitty situation.
To let the other person know you're not talking about what's right and what's wrong. Just stating how something is.
It is a way end discussion by commiserating. Voicing shared helplessness out loud.
Do any discussions about changing things continue after both parties agree that "it is what it is"?
maybe they couldn't stop thinking about it but I'm built different
Ah well, live and learn!
Lol this lady doesn't know what platitudes are... hilarious
Can't stop thinking about thought terminating cliches? Sounds like you need a thought terminating cliche!
Well I'm just sayin
Inshallah. 🤷♂️
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