It is what it is

It is what it is

It is what it is is a cliché in common use among American athletes and coaches to sum up troubles and send a message to a reporter that it's time to move on. [cite web
url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2004-12-27-cliche-of-year_x.htm
title='It is what it is'
first=Gary
last=Mihoces
publisher=USA Today
date=2004-12-27
] cite web
url=http://www.slate.com/id/2184503/
title=It Is What It Is … But What Is It? A sports cliché for our times.
first=Douglas
last=McCollam
publisher=Slate
date=2008-02-15
] William Safire called it a deliberate tautology.cite web
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/magazine/305wwln_safire.1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
title=It Is What It Is
first=William
last=Safire
publisher=The New York Times
date=2006-03-05
] The phrase appeared in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1690) by philosopher John Locke, who wrote that "essence may be taken for the very being of anything, whereby it is what it is." The line was voted sports cliché of 2004 by "USA Today". [cite web
url=http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/TheSportingBlog/136171/
title='It Is What it Is' Confuses Congress to No End
first=Chris
last=Mottram
publisher=The Sporting News (blog)
date=2008-02-13
]

The truth represented by the phrase It is what it is is a logical consequence of the law of identity and the existence of any particular object.

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