i know people read this board and it's been mentioned numerous times. yet, they keep making the same mistake. it is NOT "I could care less." it IS " I couldn't care less."
"it is what it is" is a r****ded one. "in terms of" is one thats way to popular for its own good. "you know" . I dont mind one or 2, but after the 5th one i want to punch your throat.
when all hope is lost i still prefer i am fuct tautology is what it is and is often misused and/or misunderstood. (^^not a tautological statement^^)
I'd rather hear "Thats the way it is" or "Thats just the way it is" than "It is what it is"... It annoys me for some reason..
I say, "it is what it is" all the time. And have for at least the past 7 years or so. I find that I particularly say it to clients. It means something to me, and they seem to understand what I'm saying.
I KNOW. I go crazy over that one aswell. I challenge anyone who says "i could care less" to explain why thats the proper way to express said feeling.
source [rquoter] So, is "I could care less" an illogical abomination, as the language purists proclaim? Not at all. It's simply an ironic or sarcastic idiom, one of several in common use, including "very funny" (meaning "not funny at all"), "big deal" (meaning "not important") and "oh sure" (meaning "I don't believe you"). Again, "I could care less" is an idiom, a figure of speech whose sum is greater than the total of its parts. To analyze the phrase as "'I could care less' means 'I must care somewhat, therefore I do care'" misses the sarcastic element carrying the negative connotation and filling in for the missing "not." Sentences such as "That will teach you to take your cat on a roller coaster" depend on the kind of same sarcastic reversal. Negatives in English often depend on negation via sarcasm and irony. There's a story, no doubt apocryphal but fun anyway, about an English professor lecturing to his class one day. "In English," he says, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative." A voice from the back of the room then pipes up, "Yeah, right." [/rquoter] And to me, "It is what it is" has roughly the same meaning as the proverb, "You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear," except people don't look at you like you just arrived from the 19th century when you say it.
