He liked Tom all right... Sampson and Bullock he could do without, however. Especially Sampson, who was too much of a grammar-school-type swot ever to be quite the thing.
2017 November 2, Ben Brantley, “Review: ‘Junk’ Revives a Go-Go Era of Debt and Duplicity”, The New York Times:
“When did money become the thing — the only thing?” Ms. Lim’s character asks in the opening monologue.
2018 September 30, Steve Politi, “A Rutgers fan's secret to survival: Beer. Lots and lots of beer.”, nj.com:
Brewfest needs to become the thing at Rutgers.
2018 December 26, Avery Anapol (quoting Claire McCaskill), “McCaskill on Ocasio-Cortez: ‘I’m a little confused why she’s the thing’”, The Hill:
"I'm a little confused why she's the thing,” McCaskill told CNN.