plural of chose; things.

first of all, first

state of affairs, situation

order of things, nature of things, nature of the beast; grand scheme of things, grand scheme, big picture

nature of things, nature of the beast, order of things

it's one of those two things; there are two possibilities, there are two possible scenarios; you have two options; you choose(: either ... or)

(informal) to get down to business, to get down to brass tacks, to get down to the nitty-gritty

(figuratively) to put things into perspective

pretty much; more or less

that's the least one can do, it's nothing at all