matter of form

Still, “Tomb of Sand” is a matter of form meeting function, an homage to the vibrancy of Hindi that threatens to lose its shine in a globalized world where English peppers its cadence.

“Look at what he puts up with at home! He’s practically a saint! It’s no wonder he’s with me—she’s practically driven him into my arms, which means their marriage was already long over before I got here, and it’s merely a matter of form that they aren’t divorced yet.”

Hercules dined alone, but he understood that Admetus must as a matter of form attend the funeral and the fact did not stand in the way of his enjoying himself.

“In the matter of form,” Ford wrote, Dickens is “excruciatingly bad” – but then he begins to praise Dickens as an entertainer:

“Being very astigmatic myself I am very familiar with the phenomena that result from that peculiarity of eyesight, and it seems to me very unlikely that an artist should be influenced by them in the matter of form and not at all in the matter of colour.”