Welcome to what may be one of my shortest entries but a worthwhile one nevertheless.
It is quite difficult these days to flip through the channels on TV, watch the news, or listen to people talking at work without hearing the latest catch phrase “the fact of the matter is.”
A couple things about this need to be pointed out starting with how incredibly overused this is. We do not all need to copy someone else’s phrase. Secondly, this is merely a permutation of the original prepositional phrase of “As a matter of fact” which was used until that phrase got old.
When you hear someone use this phrase, listen really closely to what comes next or the true noun-verb sentence. You will notice the very next part of the sentence has very little to do with any facts at all but the individual’s opinion. Obscuring the line of an opinion with provable facts is nothing new especially in politics. However by using this phrase, the speaker might as well tell the audience they do not know what a fact truly is or they are about to lie to their faces. Again, a politician lying to our faces is nothing new. The rest of us need to lead by example and watch our own tongues.
Why should we be careful of our linguistic choices? Our kids are listening. It is hard enough to grow up in a society where opinions and assumptions are passed off as if they are proven fact. No reason to make it harder for the children to determine who the liars are.
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