005 Što je, tu je!

Croatian sayings and expressions #005

Što je, tu je!

So be it! It is what it is!

​It is January in Zagreb

Petar says:  "Moram šetati psa. Ali pada snijeg i temperatura je -10! Ne želim ići van.
                     Ali moram. Što je, tu je!  Ajdemo Švrćo (his dog). Ići ćemo u park."

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It is May in Zadar - not that it matters, it could be any month in any town ....
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Jadranka:  "Jedu mi se ćevapi, ali doma imamo samo grah. Htjela bih otići po ćevape, ali auto je pokvaren.
                   Onda ... Što je, tu je!  Jest ćemo grah za večeru"
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Što je, tu je!

Literally: What is, is!

Common usage: That's the way it is! So be it! There's nothing we can do about it!

​And implied: That's the situation, let's deal with it. There is no point in worrying about what we cannot change!
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And just in case you didn't understand my Croatian in the two situations described above ...

Petar: "I must walk the dog. But snow is falling and it is -10 degrees. I don't want to go outside. But I must.  It is what it is! Let's go, Švrćo. We'll go to the park."

Jadranka: "I feel like (eating) ćevapi, but we only have beans at home. I would like to go and get some ćevapi, but the car is out of order. Then, so be  it! We will have beans for dinner."
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More ....

​Here is an example arising directly from the business of learning Croatian with my teacher Mateja at SpeakCro:

Bob: Mateja, I was writing something in Croatian that involved the similar-looking nouns posao (job, task) and misao (thought). And I understand from what you told me once, that when we decline these according to the cases, they behave as though the nominative singular were posla and misla. Right?

Mateja: 10/10  [I'm sure that she thought to add "for a change..."]

Bob: OK, so I thought that they would decline in the same way. Luckily, I checked their declension, because they are different! Here is what I found:

Bob: They are entirely different!

Mateja: Yes, they are. What are the genders of the nouns posao and misao?

Bob: Hmmmmmm ... Checking, checking .... Joj! the noun posao is muški rod, but misao is ženski rod! 

Mateja: Correct. And so what do you think about their declensions?

Bob: Aha! I see! Posao behaves like a regular masculine noun (posla), and misao is one of those feminine i-nouns!           But why is that? That doesn't make sense to me!

Mateja: Što je, tu je! Suck it up, princess!

Bob [thinking ...]  Mateja is such a sensitive teacher .....

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