Fluency in a language requires understanding subtext and common idioms. “At the end of the day” is an idiom that summarizes information and allows for gentle conclusions. It offers balance and peace in communication.
Speaking a language fluently requires much more than a sufficiently large vocabulary and an understanding of the finer aspects of that language’s grammar. Every language is rich in subtext. Phrases have social meanings, cultural echoes, and even allusions that are only available to some members of the language’s group of speakers. To truly communicate, a speaker must have a command of common idioms. At the end of the day, to use any of those idioms, they have to become second nature.
The “at the end of the day” idiom is at once imaginative, poetic, and relatively transparent in terms of meaning. It is a idiom with two jobs. First, it summarizes a set of previous information, and second, it states what the information, taken together, means. It allows the speaker to consider, weigh the evidence, and draw a conclusion that seems somewhat free of excessive judgment.
For example, a team leader reviewing a project with colleagues might highlight a number of decisions that weren’t made correctly. Despite this, the outcome of the project was satisfactory. He or she might tell other team members, “At the end of the day, while we probably could have increased the numbers, the results indicate that our approach has been successful.”
There is something lovely and gentle about this idiom. It allows the speaker to analyze and reach a firm conclusion without being overly harsh. When this expression is spoken aloud, listeners feel that they have been privy to the speaker’s thought processes while he was thinking aloud. It is easier for the recipients of a decision to accept it if they feel they have participated in it in some way.
In the example above, if the results weren’t satisfactory, the team leader might have said, “While everyone worked hard, some mistakes were made. At the end of the day, it looks like we fell a little short of our target.” A lover trying to gently untangle the bonds of love might say to her beloved, “You are wonderful and amazing, but at the end of the day, I know I’m not right for you.”
The phrase paints a bleak picture. It’s twilight in a handful of syllables, the precise moment memories kick in to add their dreamy whispers of hope and regret. The phrase offers a sense of balance and peace.
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