Re: Another
think coming - the plot thickens (thiggens?)
Posted by Myra Gratin on October 11, 2002 In Reply to: Re:
Another think coming - the plot thickens (thiggens?) posted by TheFallen
on October 11, 2002
: : : : : Can anyone help solve an office
argument?
: : : : : Is the following phrase correct:
: : : : : If you think
that then you've got another thing coming;
: : : : : Or should it be
: : :
: : If you think that then you've got another think coming?
: : : : It is definitely
"another think".
: : : No evidence, just another opinion: I believe the original
phrase was: "If you think XXXX, you've got another THING coming." But somewhere
along the line it mutated to "...you've got another THINK coming." I first heard
"think" used by a Disney character.
: : I know how you folks love documentation,
but I don't have any. But this one is in very current usage so we should get by
without doc.
: : When someone says that they think this or that and you believe
them to be wrong, you say "well, if you think that, then you've got another think
comming." In my house we spoke better Enlish than that. When someone said, I think
this or I thought that, we would say, you've got another thought coming.
: :
ES
: I've just, while Googling both phrases (results are oddly 6,640 for "got
another thing coming" and 1,830 for "got another think coming"), discovered the
following in our own archives, courtesy of the learned Masakim. I hereby paste
it in its entirety.
: *** snip ***
: "You have another think coming"
:
"If you think that, you have another think coming" means "You are mistaken and
will soon have to alter your opinion". This is now sometimes heard with "thing"
in place of "think", but "think" is the older version. Eric Partridge, in A Dictionary
of Catch Phrases, gives the phrase as "you have another guess coming", "US: since
the 1920s, if not a decade or two earlier". Clearly "think" is closer to "guess"
than "thing" is. The OED gives a citation with "think" from 1937, and no evidence
for "thing". Merriam-Webster Editorial Department writes: "When an informal poll
was conducted here at Merriam-Webster, about 60% of our editors favored 'thing'
over 'think,' a result that runs counter to our written evidence."
: From The
alt.usage.english FAQ File
: *** end snip ***
: A couple of websites I visited
claim that this phrase is changing from its original deliberately and humorously
ungrammatical form to a grammatically correct form that misses the point - because
people are overly keen to avoid errors. However, most authorities, such as they
are, seem to go with "another think". I'd suspect that the phrase originally had
slight sarcastic overtones implying stupidity, similar perhaps to another deliberately
ungrammatical usage, as follows:-
: "Elizabeth Taylor's got married again -
well gee, who'da thunk it?"
Yes, I agree - it is deliberately ungrammatical.
Apropos of nothing in particular, a colleague of mine always signs himself 'evil
ditto lad' when agreeing with something - it's an anagram of his name.
I've
only ever heard this as 'think' and, until now, wasn't aware there was any debate
about it. No evidence on offer from here, but doesn't the think version have the
advantage that it makes sense whereas the thing version doesn't? What would the
thing be but another thought anyway?
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