one of those things

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

one of those things (plural not attested)

1. (idiomatic, often preceded by just) An unfortunate, but unavoidable, event.

   It was just one of those things: I spent an hour in traffic and then found that the shop was closed.

2. (idiomatic, often preceded by just) A strange or surprising event for which an explanation is unavailable or not worth pursuing.
   • 1959, Isaac Asimov, Words of Science, page 227:

     The moral to this story is that the good research scientist pays strict attention to any peculiar event and does not shrug off a mystery as just "one of those things."

Translations

unfortunate but unavoidable event

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不可避免的事 (bùkěbìmiǎn de shì)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: huonoa tuuria
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: please add this translation if you can