Re: Another
thing coming to you
Posted by ESC on October
11, 2002 In Reply to: Re: Another think coming
posted by R. Berg 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?
: : : I don't see
that "thing" doesn't make sense. After all, the thing could be an event or a rude
awakening and needn't be simply another though. I actually had never come across
the "think" version until this discussion, but then it's not something I recall
seeing in print. Especially in the United States where consonants tend to be softer
than the UK, I think one might be hard pressed to tell the difference between
the two versions just by listening.
: : For what it's worth, this is from The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
: : Rot him, I forgot he was a preacher. I see
I was up a stump again, so I played another chicken bone and got another think.
:
We've had this discussion before. In my childhood home (U.S.; parents from Midwest),
people pronounced their consonants clearly enough that I am certain it was "another
think."
If you think that then you've got another thing coming to you.
My
case for "thing" is that we talk about someone "getting what's coming to him."
The "what" coming to you would be a "thing" not a "think." My vote is that it
started out "thing" and changed to "think" as a play on words.
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