Meanings
- idiomaticno pluraloften preceded by justAn 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.
- idiomaticno pluraloften preceded by justA strange or surprising event for which an explanation is unavailable or not worth pursuing.
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."
1959, Isaac Asimov, Words of Science, page 2271 more example
My father was one of those persons who could add a column of figures - even of the ridiculous coinage then in use locally - with a flick of the eye, so that it was natural for him to have in mind that I should become an accountant. As a result, my inability to make any column of figures reach the same total twice caused me to be something of a mystery as well as a disappointment to him. Still, there it was: just one of those things.
1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 25
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 不可避免的事
- 不可避免的事 (bùkěbìmiǎn de shì)unfortunate but unavoidable event
Finnish huonoa tuuria
- huonoa tuuriaunfortunate but unavoidable event
Cite this entry
one of those things. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20of%20those%20things
“one of those things.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20of%20those%20things. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “one of those things,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/one%20of%20those%20things.
Source: one of those things on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.