"Well at the end of the day..."

[Jamie123]

Does anyone else feel wary when they hear sentences beginning with that phrase?

Urban Dictionary defines it as meaning "when everything is taken into account". I suspect many people use it to present their conclusions as fact but can't be bothered to give evidence or argument to back them up. And this (I further suspect) usually means their arguments are shaky and their evidence nonexistent.

How often do you hear a well-reasoned proposition which goes against another person's prejudices rebutted with: "Well at the end of the day, blahdy blahdy blah blah"?

(Another version is "When all is said and done....")

[FunkyTown]

While I do not personally use that phrase, I would use it if someone were arguing something that was irrelevant. "(Insert something here) isn't fair! (insert here) would be far more fair. This is stupid."

"At the end of the day, this is your job. Because it's your job, you will do it this way. It's not up for discussion. It's your job."

Does anyone else feel wary when they hear sentences beginning with that phrase?

Urban Dictionary defines it as meaning "when everything is taken into account". I suspect many people use it to present their conclusions as fact but can't be bothered to give evidence or argument to back them up. And this (I further suspect) usually means their arguments are shaky and their evidence nonexistent.

How often do you hear a well-reasoned proposition which goes against another person's prejudices rebutted with: "Well at the end of the day, blahdy blahdy blah blah"?

(Another version is "When all is said and done....")

[gabelpa]

"When all is said and done, that's just the way it has to be. I hope you understand, that at the end of the day, there is nothing we can do."

Had to phone in for support on a proprietary hardware system out here at work, and I swear, that's what the support rep said to me. I then proceeded to tear him to shreds over his obligations under our service contract.

[Tarnished]

We had a realtor who used this phrase a lot. But it worked the way she used it. "Well if you go with this house you have the nice yard and the big rooms, but at the end of the day there is still the mold problem."

Problem was that she used it so often that my husband began to pick it up as well. I am not hesitant about people using it, I just sometimes hear it too often.

[Jamie123]

While I do not personally use that phrase, I would use it if someone were arguing something that was irrelevant. "(Insert something here) isn't fair! (insert here) would be far more fair. This is stupid."

"At the end of the day, this is your job. Because it's your job, you will do it this way. It's not up for discussion. It's your job."

Yes that's a good point. It can be used to mean: "However good your arguments may be they don't address a basic fundamental problem, which is that...etc."

E.g.

"Using nuclear energy is better than burning fossil fuels because it doesn't release greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere."

"Yes, but at the end of the day the nuclear waste has to be disposed of."

I think it's the finality of the statement that irritates me most: It's as if the person is saying: "My argument trumps every other possible consideration, so the matter is therefore closed." It would be humbler to say something like: "Yes that's true, but on the other hand...etc."

[Wingnut]

I read a couple of years ago that "at the end of the day" was the most commonly used cliché in the English language. Oddly enough, until I read the article, I couldn't remember ever having heard the phrase.

[Truegrits]

While I have read both the phrases, "Well at the end of the day" and "When all is said and done" in articles and books, like Wingnut, I have not experienced that in my daily life.

[Wingnut]

While I have read both the phrases, "Well at the end of the day" and "When all is said and done" in articles and books, like Wingnut, I have not experienced that in my daily life.

"When all is said and done" is one I'd heard, but not "at the end of the day." I've since heard and used both of them. I think it may just be a case of not noticing something until it's brought to my attention.

[Just_A_Guy]

The bottom line is, you're all just talking nonsense.

[Wingnut]

Easy for you to say.

[Mahone]

"When all is said and done, that's just the way it has to be. I hope you understand, that at the end of the day, there is nothing we can do."

Had to phone in for support on a proprietary hardware system out here at work, and I swear, that's what the support rep said to me. I then proceeded to tear him to shreds over his obligations under our service contract.

Off topic I know, but did this involve trying to explain to the rep why the only operating system that is supported with the aforementioned hardware being < windows XP is not acceptable in real life, or similarly annoying situation?

[UrbanFool]

I've never heard the phrase either. Maybe it's that OTHER English.

[mordorbund]

I've never heard the phrase either. Maybe it's that OTHER English.

Oddly enough, until I read the article, I couldn't remember ever having heard the phrase.

At the End of the Day excerpt from Les Miserables

[THE POOR]

At the end of the day you're another day older

And that's all you can say for the life of the poor

It's a struggle, it's a war

And there's nothing that anyone's giving

One more day standing about, what is it for?

One day less to be living.

At the end of the day you're another day colder

And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill

And the righteous hurry past

They don't hear the little ones crying

And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill

One day nearer to dying!

...

[The foreman and workers, including Fantine, emerge from the factory]

[FOREMAN]

At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing

Sitting flat on your butt doesn't buy any bread

[WORKER ONE]

There are children back at home

[WORKERS ONE AND TWO]

And the children have got to be fed

[WORKER TWO]

And you're lucky to be in a job

[WOMAN]

And in a bed!

[WORKERS]

And we're counting our blessings!

...

It's touring around the US if you need an excuse to hear the phrase several times.

[UrbanFool]

LOL! I've never seen Le Mis. I guess I'm deprived.