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It is what it is

Now, that's a terrible explanation, I know – It gives the whole thing away.

Ah well, it's too late to adopt the Adams doctrine, say "facts are stubborn things" and bid everyone adieu.

So, let's move on to examples from the media.

1. If China pushes Yao to play, he will play. Before China allowed him to come to the NBA nearly six years ago, expectations were established for his continued participation with the Chinese national team. As a result, Yao has not missed a major competition in his five offseasons with the Rockets. "It is what it is," Van Gundy says. "We knew that, and we accepted that." Echoes Rockets G.M. Daryl Morey: "It's who he is."

2. The way to determine whether an adage is past its prime is to look at who is still saying it.

If Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and pop star Britney Spears and wanna-be Donald Trump apprentice Lee Bienstock are all using the expression, then it is time for the expression to go.

"It is what it is" just isn't anymore.

Rumsfeld, pressed by a reporter about invading another country, said: "You can call that defense, as I do, or you can call it pre-emptive, but it is what it is."

3. For additional nuance, I turn to Joe Pickett, executive editor of the American Heritage Dictionary. "It is what it is is also a way of expressing philosophical resignation over a disappointment, of saying that the situation just has to be put up with. Athletes will say it about a missed catch or a bad call by the referee; it means that they don't want to dwell on the situation. A variation of It is what it is is What's done is done; you'd never say that about a person, but you can say She is what she is. It reminds me of a phrase rampant here in Boston: 'That's just Manny being Manny,' to refer to the weird behavior of the Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez. It must be a variation on 'Let Reagan be Reagan.'" (That tautophrasal political slogan was based on the 1981 Let Poland be Poland.)