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

Recent Examples on the Web

Slides are one of those things that earn their space quickly on a long-haul travel day. — Samantha Leal, Travel + Leisure, 19 Sep. 2026

Like, even just sitting with one of those things produces this paralysis. — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026

This is one of those things that is simultaneously ludicrous while also making sense, but this pink Sunderland away kit is inspired by Elvis Presley. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

Nobody revisits them because renegotiating feels like a hassle for marginal gain, and because payment terms are one of those things that got set once during onboarding and then never came up again. — Nick Chandi, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026

Rhymes for one of those things

• brings
• clings
• dings
• flings
• kings
• lings
• pings
• rings
• sings
• slings
• stings
• strings