what can you do

alternative what can one do · alternative what are you going to do

1. A rhetorical question expressing that an undesirable situation is inevitable.

   Near-synonyms: what can I say, what is one to do; it is what it is

   1 more example

   I bend my head over the paper, screw up my eyes, trying to read what it says, but it's no use, I can hardly see to read now, the print's so small that I can't read much except the headlines. Oh, well, what can you do?

   2017, Carl Frode Tiller, Encircling: Book 2

   Synonyms: what can I say, what is one to do, it is what it is