one of those things

Noun

one of those things (plural not attested)

1. (idiomatic, no plural, often preceded by just) An 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.
2. (idiomatic, no plural, often preceded by just) A strange or surprising event for which an explanation is unavailable or not worth pursuing.
   • 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...1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 25
   • 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 227