It Is What It Is Meaning

(idiomatic) This circumstance is simply a fact and must be accepted or dealt with as it exists.

Example: 1690, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding:
  That every thing has a real constitution, whereby it is what it is, and on which its sensible qualities depend, is past doubt.
1926, "La Semaine du Parlement," Time, 8 Mar.:
  I shall not criticize the Treaty of Versailles. It is a fact. It is what it is.
2005, Viv Bernstein, "Stewart Poised to Head Onto Road Less Traveled," New York Times, 20 Nov. (retrieved 24 July 2008):
  I would prefer to start further up than where I am, but it is what it is and we'll just go out there and get to work.