I am what I am ....

[Laurence Horn]

At 7:43 PM -0500 4/22/10, Dennis Baron wrote:
>dare I say the much loathed, "it is what it is"?

So we have the 1st person and 3rd person versions.  The best I can
think of for the 2d person isn't quite as tautologous: either "You
are what you eat" or (gratia Bill Parcells, in honor of NFL draft
day) "You are what your record says you are".

LH

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>On Apr 22, 2010, at 6:59 PM, David Barnhart wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
>>Subject:      I am what I am ....
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Is there a technical term for such silly phrases?  Of course, the
>>end of the
>>statement is "a yam."
>>
>>What similar ones are there?
>>
>>
>>
>>David
>>
>>
>>
>>Barnhart at highlands.com
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