# "That's the thing" phrase

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-thing-phrase/576722>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 1, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-thing-phrase/576722 "2011-04-01T05:29:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-thing-phrase/576722/1 "2011-04-01T05:29:18Z")

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I was watching this mildly humorous video on YouTube: [Hardly Working: That's The Thing - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDfEcICau5Y) when a question popped into my head.

When did people starting using the phrase “that’s the thing,” to rebut another’s point or argument?