Talk:that's the way life is

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Kept. See archived discussion of 10 2007. 23:51, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

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That's the way life is

I don't believe this is actually a proverb. Kappa 01:07, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

It gets 619 b.g.c. hits. Maybe this is more suited to RFD? —Ruakh_TALK 07:42, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Do any of those bgc hits look like proverbial uses to you? Kappa 10:40, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Would "Idiom" seem better? This certainly is a set phrase, and non-compositional. The definition currently given is obviously flawed, though; as far as I'm aware, this doesn't mean literally "that's the way life is"; it is rather a gentle synonym for tough shit. -- Visviva 14:54, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Please add three non-compositional cites to the entry. Kappa 06:40, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

It passes the fried egg test: it can only be used in certain ways, more restrictive than what is implied by its parts. For example, if something bad happens to you, but it has a bright side, I can't tell you "That's the way life is: every dark cloud has a silver lining." That's just not what "That's the way life is" means. So, I can add three cites in the correct sense, but it won't prove its non-compositionality. —Ruakh_TALK 07:07, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

Added three cites which seem non-compositional to me; your mileage may vary. ;-) I don't see where the sense of inevitability, of "it cannot be helped," is present in the literal meaning of this phrase. Of course, we could tie ourselves in knots arguing over whether this is a semantic or a pragmatic/contextual attribute... But it seems to me that it is a verifiable and interesting attribute of this phrase, and therefore merits inclusion here. -- Visviva 09:24, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

Does that mean I can add life's like that and that's life and any other variations, with cites, as well? Algrif 12:05, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

• Oh. I see we already have that's life Perhaps a redirect, or a see also would be appropriate. Algrif 12:08, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Ah, yes, let's redirect to that's life, per our usual custom for alternative forms of multiword phrases. Excellent notion. -- Visviva 12:16, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

I think these are less "alternative forms" than "synonyms". I don't think we should redirect this. —Ruakh_TALK 17:58, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Well, it's a fuzzy line, for sure. But to me it seems like this one -- along with all that's how life is and that's the way life goes and that's the way it is in life -- is just an alternative realization of the core utterance "that's [how/what] life [is]." -- Visviva 00:12, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

• Side question: Am I correct in thinking that if kept, this should be at lowercase T, "that's the way life is"? -- Visviva 00:12, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

• This should redirect (with the other missing forms) to that's life - the normal, common form. --Connel MacKenzie 12:14, 2 February 2008 (UTC)