At the end of the day...

I was watching the reunion show of the Project Runway Philippines last week which had designer Rajo Laurel answering questions of the designers and viewers. I can't help but notice that his last sentences always began with, "At the end of the day..." Then some of the designers talked about their experiences and it was the same case, they end their remarks with a sentence starting with "At the end of the day..."

This lead me to think whether this is the new expression, "At the end of the day..." What do they actually mean by this phrase? Can't they just say, "Ultimately" or "In the end"?

In a showbiz oriented talk show, I hear this teenstar say "At the end of the day, kami din ang makakaalam..." Huh?

I bet they heard this phrase used somewhere and they think it makes them sound... intellectual. But these things are not to be used lightly.

I guess that soon, "At the end of the day" will take its place alongside such showbiz created expressions such as "in fairness", "actually", "you know...", "it's like..."