If you haven't watched Michelle Obama's latest speech, in which she beseeches the American people to vote for Joe Biden and get Donald Trump out of the Oval Office, then you need to. Rousing, articulate and urgent, it is an incredible piece of rhetoric. There are so many highlights, but one thing really stuck out amid the eloquence: 'it is what it is.'
'It is what it is.' A common phrase that has become more so in recent years, thanks in part to the rise of Love Island.
Last year, fan favourite Sherif was rejected by fellow islander Amber and offered a philosophical response: 'it is what it is.' He may not have known it, but that particular series' catchphrase was born. Viewers at home suggested they take a shot every time it was uttered. Love Island's official Twitter account, perhaps fearful of lawsuits, recommended against it. Sherif left the villa, but it seemed like everyone else kept his vocabulary, using 'it is what is is' again and again. But where did it originate? Sherif was, of course, not the first person to utter those five little words.
According to The New York Times, it was first scene in a 1949 column by JE Lawrence in the Nebraska State Journal. 'New land is harsh, and vigorous, and sturdy', he wrote. 'It scorns evidence of weakness. There is nothing of sham or hypocrisy in it. It is what it is, without apology.'
But it is sport, not agriculture, that seems to have brought 'it is what it is' mainstream. According to a 2008 article in Slate, its use post-game by players to explain bad scores, failures or surprises was understandable when you consider how it can be applied to most situations, thus sparing athletes from having to overscrutinise or look inward. 'The phrase', the piece read, 'is popular with today’s sports figures because, like all clichés, it helps them avoid speaking about the essence of anything.' In short? Not sure what to say? Say 'it is what it is.'
Perhaps Michelle has caught a few episodes of the ITV sensation, or has watched a few football games in recent times. But, more likely, she is using Trump's words against him. In November 2018, the President made his faux pas of the day by refusing to condemn Saudi Arabia following the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
'It's a complex issue, it's a shame, but it is what it is,' Trump said. 'It is America first to me, it is all about America first.' Using it here seems callous and grossly underestimates the seriousness of the situation. Perhaps Michelle is laying crumbs to just one of his many errors offered in the name of America.
Is the phrase's rise in sport - and its usefulness when you don't really know what to say - applicable to its use in Love Island, in political speeches, and on Twitter? Or does it simply fill a void? Susan Hunston, Birmingham Univeristy's Professor of English linguistics, told i last year that its success comes from few alternatives. There is simply no other way to say 'this has happened, I'm not happy about that, but I accept it' so succinctly and easily. 'For a long time we used the French "c’est la vie" and there would have been a sort of religious phrase like "that’s god’s will" or something,' she says. ;So there is semantic space for a phrase that has that sort of meaning – bad things have happened but there’s nothing you can do about it and so you accept it.'
It's a fascinating linguistic quirk in a world that needs words more than ever. Simplistic? Reductive? Lacking in creativity? Maybe. But it is what it is.
Barack and Michelle Obama Throwback Pictures - Grazia (slider)
1 of 4Michelle and Barack Obama Throwback Pictures - Grazia
The first image she shared was from her family home, which she describes as a 'cramped apartment'. Her caption read:'Over the next few days, I'll be sharing some photos and memories from my book, BECOMING. My father, Fraser, taught me to work hard, laugh often, and keep my word. My mother, Marian, showed me how to think for myself and to use my voice. Together, in our cramped apartment on the South Side of Chicago, my family helped me see the value in our story, in my story, and in the larger story of our country.'
2 of 4Michelle and Barack Obama Throwback Pictures - Grazia
Of course, the world swooned when Michelle uploaded her wedding day image with Barack Obama. According to her, the wedding was almost ruined by Barack waking up ill, she said:'You can't tell it from this photo, but Barack woke up on our wedding day in October, 1992 with a nasty head cold. Somehow, by the time I met him at the altar, it had miraculously disappeared and we ended up dancing almost all night. Twenty five years later, we're still having fun, while also doing the hard work to build our partnership and support each other as individuals. I can't imagine going on this wild ride with anybody else.'
3 of 4Michelle and Barack Obama Throwback Pictures - Grazia
One of our favourite images was her outside Princeton University on her first day, where she recalls being scared and never having stood out because of her race before. Michelle has previously been very vocal about how Princeton was 'infamous for being racially the most conservative of the Ivy League colleges' and even had roommates whose parents attempted to have her moved because of her race. She captioned the image with:'This is me at Princeton in the early 1980s. I know that being a first-generation college student can be scary, because it was scary for me. I was black and from a working-class neighborhood in Chicago, while Princeton's student body was generally white and well-to-do. I'd never stood out in a crowd or a classroom because of the color of my skin before. But I found close friends and a mentor who gave me the confidence to be myself. Going to college is hard work, but every day I meet people whose lives have been profoundly changed by education, just as mine was. My advice to students is to be brave and stay with it. Congratulations to the Class of 2018! #ReachHigher'
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4 of 4Michelle and Barack Obama Throwback Pictures - Grazia
Yet another adorable family candid, Michelle shared her experience of living in the White House, especially with children that her and Barack wanted to raise to be grounded. Her caption read:'Home has always been where our family is...It hasn't mattered whether we're lounging on a couch in Chicago's Hyde Park or, as we are here, in the White House. We did our best to make the White House a comfortable place where our girls could climb trees and host slumber parties, where we'd have dinner together as a family, and where we tried to live by the values our parents instilled in us.'
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