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Glite Dictionary
the thing is

the thing is

166 3.5
To say an important fact or reason when explaining something
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : el caso es que
  • The thing is, I'd really like to see you settled.
  • Well, the thing is
  • See, the thing is
  • Yeah, the thing is

You, you just The thing is, this is what matters.

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Examples

  • The thing is, when people catch something from your music, it's the thing you put into it.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • OK, so The thing is, you expect cold, right?

  • And that means now that The thing is, it needs to be real.

  • But they know that The thing is you have to prove bad faith.

  • And it's like, The thing is, what about you?

  • Well, the thing is, I met this girl.

    Children of Men (2006)

  • The thing is, it's got to be tonight.

    Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

  • The thing is, you're not a regular soldier.

    Enemy at the Gates (2001)

  • The thing is, Charlie, I've spoken to lots of people about you.

    Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

  • the thing is, we need to talk about your future plans.

Synonyms

you know what
vsthe thing is
  • Informal
797 7.5

To say something new or surprising to get someone's attention

is used mainly to highlight an important clarifying point rather than to introduce new topics
here's the thing
vsthe thing is
  • Informal
43 7.2

A phrase that introduces the most important point in a discussion

is used for important or clarifying points in general rather than the single main issue

Antonyms

distraction
234 2.9

Something that takes your attention away from what you are doing

irrelevance
10 5.3

Something not related to the main topic

How Emphatic

simply
341 1.0
frankly
∞ 3.2
the thing is
  • Informal
166 3.5
to be honest
  • Informal
221 2.3
by the way
  • Informal
448 1.5

Surface Forms

the thing is main

Morphology

the + thing + be

The expression literally signals that 'the thing' (i.e. the main/important point) 'is' something, so its pragmatic use as 'the important point is…' is directly built from the meanings of the constituents. This discourse-marker pattern (e.g. 'the thing is that…') is common cross-linguistically and follows straightforward composition, so a B1 learner who knows the words will very likely infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

The thing is comes from a simple picture: someone points at the one important object—the thing—and says it 'is' the main point. That's why we now use the thing is to 'introduce' or 'stress' the most important fact in a conversation.