the little/small matter

noun

—used in an ironic way to refer to a difficult situation or problem

He wants to buy a new car, but first there's the little/small matter of getting enough money to pay for it.

Examples of the little/small matter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But before the only agenda for the day involves lazy lunches by the sea, there’s the little matter of the packing list—and if your own plans could use some organizing, why not use our editors’ vacation essentials as your guide? —Elly Leavitt, Vogue, 7 July 2025

Before all of that, though, there’s the small matter of my third Bruce Springsteen gig this week. —Kris Holt, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2024

Well, that, and the small matter of the number of devices that the FreeType software is deployed on across various products, which is more than a billion. —Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 6 May 2025

Now there’s just the small matter of the launch and journey to the asteroid, and the hope that what Odin finds will lead to the riches long touted from asteroid mining. —Jonathan O’Callaghan, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2025