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Reader question: Please explain this: “Stuff happens. Time to move on.” My comments: “Stuff happens” is a popular American slang expression. Here it looks like a piece of advice to someone who’s just had something undesirable happen to them, such as having their wallet stolen on the bus. “Stuff” here stands for “strange stuff” – a freak accident or some other unforeseeable problem and things of that nature. To say “Stuff happens” is to say: Things like that happen a lot. Don’t take it too hard on yourself. Move on. Tomorrow, you’ll forget it. Except that things of that nature don’t happen a lot, which is what lends validity to the phrase. And that’s the thing to remember. “Stuff happens” is to be used preferably in situations where certain undesirable things happen unexpectedly. A common variation of the phrase is: “It happens” or “That happens.” For example, you forget to bring your homework to class and the teacher, knowing you’re not lying, might console you with: “It happens. Bring it in tomorrow.” You see, he understands that it is human nature to be forgetful sometimes. Another variation of this phrase is, of course, “Shit happens” – you’ll Americans say this, I am sure, if you haven’t heard it already – and the four-letter word suggests that it is used in extremely frustrating situations where you cannot stop yourself from swearing. | 
