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I only recently came across the phrase 'crux of the matter'. I thought it would be quite useful. So, I tried forming a sentence, but I am not sure whether it is right? Could someone confirm it for me?

Even though such extravagant weddings may sound like a dream-come-true to you, the crux of the matter is that you’ll be wasting a lot of your money.

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  • It's viable but, but somehow out of place. I'd prefer something like "the important question is: are they a waste of money?".
    – Dan Bron
    Mar 18, 2017 at 15:21
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    To be the crux of the matter something should be very definitely the central point. Wasting a lot of money is undesirable but to be the crux of the matter I would say it had to be more fundamental. "The crux of the matter is that we simply can't afford it" would be a better use of the phrase. Better still "but the crux of the matter is that, you don't have a fiancé(e). ..
    – davidlol
    Mar 18, 2017 at 16:27

2 Answers 2

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It doesn't really work here because what you're trying to describe is a dream vs. a sacrifice type situation, and you've set this up with conjuctive phrase: "Even though".

Even though X, the _________ is Y.

The blank space is where you've put "crux of the matter", but the crux of the matter really means the absolute, fundamental point that underpins an issue. The price of a wedding is one negative factor of wedding planning (the matter), but it is not the "crux" and it is used here out of context.

Even though such extravagant weddings may sound like a dream-come-true, the fundamental issue is that you’ll be wasting a lot of your money.

This is an edited version where I have added "fundamental issue" because it hints at the negative. "Crux of the matter" does not hint at or imply anything negative, and the situation you are trying to portray is a positive vs. negative trade-off.

I would also remove the unecessary "to you" after "dream-come-true" because you say "you'll" shortly afterwards and it isn't really needed.

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The generally accepted meaning of "crux" is the decisive or most important point at issue. Thus, the crux of the matter is the decisive or most important point regarding the matter at hand, and depends upon the context, perspective and priorities of the speaker.

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