student asking question

What's "after all" mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"After all" is similar in meaning to "ultimately" or "at the end of the day" in this context. The speaker has used it here to mean that perhaps ultimately, it wasn't a great idea. After considering all things, or in spite of all considerations, it doesn't seem like a good idea. Ex: A: Did you have a nice birthday party? B: I didn't have a party after all. It got cancelled because of bad weather. Ex: We will listen to you. After all, you're the leader of this team.

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