It is what it is

What? That phrase doesn't even make any sense.

I find there are a lot of popular phrases that make no sense at all. At least to me, they don't. It's possible it's because people just use them out of context, or maybe they don't use the phrase correctly at all. Or maybe it's because I don't like phrases that literally wipe oneself clean of any responsibility.

Here are some of the most annoying--

"It is what it is." Well, yes---of course it is. Because that's what "IT" is. Thank you Doctor Obvious. It would make more sense to just say "It is."

"I could care less." This statement is probably used incorrectly in most cases--but still. Even the person saying would have to realize, as it was coming out of their mouth, that it doesn't make sense. If you *could* care less, then why make the statement at all? It's most likely that they are saying they "couldn't" care less-meaning, they really don't care at all.

Which leads me to the next one--

"I couldn't care less." Really? REALLY? There's nothing less interesting on this planet that you could possibly care less about? Maybe the mating habits of spiders--I bet you could care less about that, right?

"High level overview" I heard this a lot at my old jobs. I understand that not everyone needs all the details of a project or idea but hearing "high level" always made me think they were saying "You're too stupid to understand the details, so we're just giving you the high level". I'll admit, I've used this phrase in the business world too and I normally DID mean it was because they were too stupid to understand the details.

"On the books" This would make sense if you were actually writing in a book--like a financial transaction. Normally this would mean "on the calendar" when it comes to an event or something you need to make a note of.

Ahh- I feel better.