as a matter of fact—as it happens; actually:
- As a matter of fact, I recently found two small stories that provoked more thought than the other articles I read.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase as a matter of course—as part of a standard procedure; as smth. that one expects automatically to happen:
- Medical insurance is provided for students by the Institute as a matter of course.
fact of the matter is, the—the essential or important thing is:
- The fact of the matter is that she only married me because Zeeman wouldn’t get a divorce, and she was punishing him.