one of those things

noun phrase

informal
used to refer to a bad or unfortunate experience that happened and to say that such experiences can happen to anyone
I missed the train and had to take a later one. It was just one of those things, I guess.

Examples of one of those things in a Sentence

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Any change at all, the nuance is – this is one of those things where the experts parse these things down to the tense of the verb and so on. CBS News, 17 May 2026 Meeting her was one of those things that just fell into place, from the get-go. Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026 Fertilizing too much — or not at all Fertilizer is one of those things where more is definitely not better. Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026 Plastic wrap is one of those things that feels like a must-have in my kitchen. Jamie Thilman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for one of those things

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Cite this Entry

“One of those things.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one%20of%20those%20things. Accessed 26 May. 2026.

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