Alternatives to “at the end of the day”

If you pay attention, it’s appalling how many times the phrase “at the end of the day” is used. It seems to be everyone’s favorite way to force a half-finished sentence to completion. In most circumstances, the phrase can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence.

• You’re right. At the end of the day, Valentine’s Day is a fraud. Thank you for not ever giving me anything on February 14.
• At the end of the day, why do you insist on writing such insipid, dim-witted screenplays?
•  No one reads the annual report . . . at the end of the day, we all know that.

We’re all writers here. Can we come up with a few alternatives to “at the end of the day,” if indeed such a phrase is called for ? Here are some to start with, though not all of these will apply in every context.

1. After all
2. All in all
3. All things being equal
4. All things considered
5. All told
6. As a last resort
7. As time goes on
8. As this plays out
9. At a future time
10. At a later time
11. At last
12. At length
13. At long last
14. Be that as it may
15. By and by
16. Chiefly
17. Concisely
18. Considering everything
19. Considering this
20. Essentially
21. Eventually
22. Even so
23. Finally
24. For all that
25. For the most part
26. In a nutshell
27. In any event
28. In closing
29. In due course
30. In essence
31. In outline
32. In passing
33. In summary
34. In the end
35. In the final analysis
36. In the long run
37. In this situation
38. In time
39. Intrinsically
40. Last of all
41. Lastly
42. Not to put too fine a point on it
43. Notwithstanding
44. One day
45. On the whole
46. Sometime
47. Sooner or later
48. Succinctly
49. Taken together
50. To be brief
51. To come to the point
52. To conclude
53. To put it briefly
54. To summarize
55. Subsequently
56. Substantially
57. Ultimately
58. When all is said and done
59. When push comes to shove
60. Without wasting words
61. Wrapping up

 

Readers . . . do you have any others to share?

 

 

 

 

 

Comments are closed.