TenuredVulture wrote:phatj wrote:TenuredVulture wrote:It is what it is is meaningless, but control your own destiny isn't.
I would say that just the opposite is true.
In the context of an NFL team, a team that controls its own destiny doesn't need any help--if they win, they make the playoffs regardless of what happens in other games. So, for instance, "The Giants control their own destiny and make the playoffs with a win against the Redskins. The Eagles need to beat the Cowboys and need the Giants to beat the Redskins to make the playoffs."
I have no idea what idea someone who says "it is what it is" is trying to express. Of course it is what it is. It's like saying A=A or 1=1. Unless of course you don't mean is in the sense of strict identity. But then the phrase it is what it is doesn't make much sense at all.
I guess I should have said that I understand both expressions but that one involves using a word ("destiny") in an antithetical sense.
One cannot control one's destiny; that's the nature of destiny. "It is what it is" means just that it cannot be changed. It's similar in meaning to "no use crying over spilt milk."
