at the end of the day

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at the end of the day

1. (idiomatic) In summary; ultimately.
   • 1991, Charles Krauthammer, "Why Arms Control Is Obsolete," Time, 5 Aug.:

     Arms control was always something between a sham and a sideshow. . . . [A]t the end of the day, a democratic Russia integrated into the West becomes no more a nuclear threat to us than Britain or France.

   • 2009, Levi Folk, "'Goldilocks' dollar is happy here," Financial Post (Canada), 24 Feb. (retrieved 25 Feb. 2009):

     At the end of the day, it is commodities that will have the biggest impact on the Canadian dollar over the next year.

• (in summary; ultimately): ATEOTD, basically, essentially, in summary, in the end, to recap, to summarize, to sum up, when all is said and done; see also Thesaurus:in summary