Taking Sides: Another Think Coming v Another Thing Coming

That's simply not proper English by the way, "another think"? Grammatically it should be "thought".

Except I won't you know.

The phrase 'another think coming' has been around for a long time. It means 'you'll have to think again'.

There is no such phrase as 'another thing coming'. Where on earth do you people hang out to pick up these ideas?

N., please post and support me.

But I will, from now on, because it's hilarious.

Hmm.

I've even forgotten which of the Wakefield twins was the nasty one. But you're behaving *just* like her.

"another thing coming" makes sense in a different way.

The Couch, C or D?

They have a new series out, the books I mean, I seen them last night. They're called "SVW: The Senior Years" - why there is an 's' attached to 'year' in that context is beyond me because I didn't get the impression they meant it in an old-folks-home context.

Of course it's "think".

Sweet Valley Twins is where you are meant to start Tim, when you are a growed up you can move onto some Sweet Valley High. Sweet Valley College I remember thinking was quite DARK cos poor Elizabeth falls apart into ruin and destruction and gets fat and isn't a perfect size 6 anymore! And splits up with Todd! Does he start bonking Jessica?! I can't remember.

And the Sweet Valley Special series were mentalist. Did anyone read the one where a crazy gurl wanted to kill Elizabeth/Jessica and take over her life? Rocking.

Do you remember the one when they were shipwrecked? God, they lived such glamorous lives, it really set me up for disappointment when I reached age 16. The thing is, the new series, the "senior year" series, has Elizabeth already broken up with Todd and becoming quite a slut, and Jessica cannot be friends with any of her friends anymore and everyone hates her because of some indefinable thing that occured (note, it's probably not indefinable because if I actually read the new series it'd probably be clear within 2 seconds, approx.). I find it upsetting! It's very risque since no one who is actually 18 is going to read this, only young gurls read those books.

What about the Babysitters Club?

"You've got another thing comin'" was a UK number 42 hit for Judas Priest circa 1981. No, I've never heard it. But if was good enough for dear old Leather Boy Rob ...

'Thing' still sounds better to me even though I now know 'think' is right.

(From oop north if it makes any difference.)

"thing coming" has become the more common usage as googlefight shows.

"Think"!!!!

Quote:"
Judas Priest:
Someone suggested that the thingers might have been influenced by the Judas Priest song. Only 5 of the 48 thingers mentioned being JP fans.

CONCLUSIONS
What can we conclude?
1. The original word is think.
2. Those who think it is "thing" are now in a slight majority, however.
3. The think crowd is strongest in the UK and the eastern US, but
there were no strong regional trends.
4. There were no age trends.
5. Judas Priest does not greatly influence our speech.
6. The think-->thing shift may have been caused by people reasoning
that "thing" is a more common noun.
Most importantly:
7. "Thing coming" and "think coming" sound so much alike that we
don't realize the other phrase being used unless it is in print, it is said very
distinctively, or someone starts a deliberate conversation just about this
phrase.
8. We can't take communication for granted, can we?
/quote

I trust her, she cares more than I do and her name is Funkhouser.

Best example I can think of: If you think it's THINK, you've got another thing coming buddy.

THINK (noun). This late-coming word (not recorded until 1834, though the corresponding verb is OE) is labelled colloq. in the New SOED (1993). It is commonly used in such sentences as Have a think about it, and You have another think coming 'you are greatly mistaken'.

Six months later:
GW: "Uh, hey Ben, how's that eliminating the U thing going?"
BF: "Oh, it's so draining, in six months, I've only been able to pull out a few U fews where they weren't really being used anyway, like HONOUR to HONOR, HUMOUR to HUMOR, that sort of thing. But I'll keep at it, I think I'm close to breaking the code. How are things with you guys in D.C.? Have you come up with a new name for our glorious country? Did you like my suggestion of Freedonia?"
GW: "Uh, listen, about that, Ben. Me and the guys, y'know, the Fathers, uh, we kinda decided on, uh, USA. I know, I said kill the U, but we were all drunk and it seemed like a good idea, y'know, we were all chanting the same way we chant 'Chug! Chug! Chug!' Y'know, 'U! S! A!" it's gotta ring to it."
BF: "What the fuck, George? Why would you screw me over like this, especially after that Cherry Tree bullshit I gave you."
GW: "Yeah, well, I'm really sorry Ben. But y'know, that's how we signed the lease, USA. So it looks like we gotta keep the U. But we'll make those changes you already made, and we'll still pay you."
BF: "yeah, well fck yo."

A "thought" is quasi-instant, ie the whatever-it-is that appears in yr mind.
A "think" is sustained, ie the activity ("having a think" = "putting thought to the matter").

Therefore the latter makes sounder assumptions about how the brain works = it is korrekt.

"Thing" is a pronoun for "thought"! Whereas THINK IS NOT A NOUN!

I still think you all are insane.

NOTE TO ALL 'THING' CAMPERS : we are all aware that 'another think coming' sounds odd, even though 'think' does function as a noun in certain other contexts ("I'll have a think about that"). But that doesn't stop it making sense. 'Thing' might be grammatically neater but semantically it is nonsense, slugs or no slugs.

I am, which is why I am on the side of "thing".

this is known as the "a put law"

I mean yes sure apparently there are some wacky Britons who feel differently, but if they expect me to change my habits they have another thing coming!

Another "thing coming" only appeared because it sounds like "think coming". Whenever the phrase its used, it's regarding thought: "if you think..., you've got another think coming". "Thing", in fact, doesn't even make sense in this context.

Anyone who believes that "another think coming" is a valid expression well and truly has another thing coming: A big fuck you! from me.

And since this is a matter of coloquialism, the "thing" camp wins.

(it's "think", of course)

it's "think". obviously.

This is Ronan's greatest moment, though sadly misdirected.

jesus christ almighty. some people really need a crash course in logical thingking. and basic grammar.

i really wanted to be pragmatic and say, okay, it might be a bastardisation, but "you've got another thing coming" is, like it or not, slowly becoming an acceptable idiom. however, looking at it written down like that, it's just fucking imbecilic. it's semantic nonsense. it's about as acceptable as "i should of done", ie not at all, even though millions of fucktards might say it every day.

so, sorry. no pragmatism today. now lock fucking thread :)

whereas you don't have to have a specific "thing" before the next thing comes. a thing could be anything.

Perhaps you find it difficult to express because your thinks ain't comin' right.

this excerpt from the alt.usage.english FAQ is illuminating ... and dreadfully worrying. 60% of merriam-webster's editors obviously need forcible re-education, preferably using cudgels with nails through them.

abt three years ago, just after xmas, i was discussin some komikal then-topical aspect of anglican "politics" (ie some bishop had said something that got in the papers tho i forget what) and she said this:
"if they think jesus was the son of god, they've got another think coming"

this is awesome enuff on its own but by logic:
a. the anglican church is older than any body of attitude supporting "thing" over "think"
b. my mum could take the anglican church down
c. my mum could take down any body of attitude supporting "thing" over "think"
d. give it up!!

It turns out that although I won the argument in our house, really I have lost it, because Mister Monkey has forbidden either version of the phrase to ever be used again. Bah.

Results 1 - 10 of about 57,600 for "another think coming". (0.10 seconds)

and most of the latter were for message boards having this EXACT SAME ARGUMENT.

(more stories about mark s's mum please!)

still, reductio ad absurdum:

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,400,000 for "stupid people". (0.12 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 494,000 for "clever people". (0.08 seconds)

i rest my case :p

This does not make these people right.

another time when she was doing a paper round -- she liked things that gave her an excuse to drive around the countryside -- a dog bit her, and rather than report it to the police she found out the home phone number of the chief constable of the county (i've no idea how) and rang HIM to report it "directly" as she put it

and once when the water was cut off for a day or so with no warning she rang the waterboard and went mental, swearing and everything, but not giving a name, then rang back a little later with the same compaint but very polite, and said "you really better do something, some people round here are gettin very upset" and the woman said "i know! we just had the most awful woman on the line!" and mum was tremendously sympathetic and said "that must have been terrible! obviously it isn't your fault!" and so on

she went to church every sunday and sang in choir and was treasurer of the parish council and i don't think believed a word of it -- she liked the sound of hymns and the company and a good argument

she was fun and i miss her :(

mark: she sounds absolutely fantastic; an utter star. and the water-board thing is IMMENSE and i will be remembering that approach myself for use in the future ;)

accentmonkey: that, of course, includes constructions such as "the first word on the page should of course be ..." although most of the incidences are just wankers, yes.

(ie "when i survey the wondrous cross" is the name of the HYMN but the name of the tune most commonly used is ROCKINGHAM) (don't worry i had to look it up -- i just remenbered the word "rockingham" and googled)

*grabs popcorn, waits for grimly to explode*

Yes, but you are talking there about a country where everyone says "tidbit" because they can't cope with the uncensored power of "titbit". Anyway, it's not simply a U.S. vs over here argument.

Mark S, your mother sounds amazing and funny.

You're full of headcheese, I've been hearing it as "another think coming" all my life.

"you've got another think coming" implies a passivity on the part of the person who will be thinking which cannot be the case. the think does not happen to you, you decide to have the think. things, however, can happen to you,

No, you don't decide to have it. See, the phrase is all about you going through your life thinking one thing, but then a "think" is going to come that makes you re-evaluate and make you change your mind. The think doesn't refer to you deliberately thinking. The "think" is a thought. It's not a grammatically correct phrase, it's a colloquialism.

i blame hegel

"A thought came to me yesterday..."

So, horseshit.

"If you think [this notion thoroughly unsupported by logic], then you [will soon have to reassess your notions]..."

or

"If you think [this notion thoroughly unsupported by logic], then [an unspecified THING will fly out of the sky and into your FACE]..."

if you think that [such and such is going to happen] , then you have another thing [something else is going to happen] coming

1. "think" is not a noun. The phrase "have a think" - the only situation where it might seem like it's a noun - is a verb and the word "think" as a noun doesn't exist outside this context.

2. the logic of "think" doesn't makes sense. People are saying "if you think that, you have another think coming" - but the first think here semantically means "believe", and try reworking it with "another belief coming" - that's just wrong, beliefs are things that don't just *change*.

"Another thing coming" doesn't have an obvious root but at least it makes sense - thing is nicely vague and encompasses any kind of change that the speaker clearly believes you will undergo.

the ARGUMENT for "thing" is a classic piece of pseudo-pedantic backformation* which i. replaces a useful neologism with handwaving vagueness, and hence ii. murders the poetry of an evolving language

also iii. MAKES MY MUM A LIAR IN THE HOUSE OF GOD

viz "they've got another THING coming" = the general synod meets next month

however this is made-up and inkorrekt despite excellence so yah boo

how can a phrase be a verb, mark? what on earth are you talking about?

as many others have demonstrated, the nominalisation process of a verb (there's probably a name for it, but i forget; like mark says, it's nothing to do with the root of the word but with the job it's doing in the sentence) works in many circumstances. have a read of this thread, then have a think about it.

this thread saddens me slightly; not because so many people are happy to mangle the language (i'm used to that, after all; and hey, at least ILX is one of the few places where the majority actually understands that "think" is correct!) but because it's a shame to see a small number of intelligent people coming out with such utterly specious nonsense and refusing to be convinced by the absolutely watertight semantic and grammatical arguments espoused by alba, accentmonkey, mark and a host of others.

:)

this is, more or less, my think

I will excuse people who spell it "another &Thorn;ing coming".

þ

Yes, and also for how "couldn't care less" has become "could care less."

A third thread is needed for "irregardless."

I have, I am sure, never ever heard (or noticed) anyone using the phrase "another thing coming" before. I'm looking at a whole lot of you in a different light now.

Yes, actually, which is one of my reasons for supporting "thing"! And as I've already mentioned, I seriously cannot picture a Brit ever using this expression; to me, it's always been the domain of mafia toughs with Brooklyn accents, under whose use the vagueness of "another thing comin'" assumes a decidedly menacing quality.

can we have a thread about how 'chuck' (as in 'chuck that in the garbage') was somehow transformed into 'chunk'

?!

jeeves! my pistol and a bottle of single malt, please.

this thread is a nightmare from which i am trying to awake.

Think coming another it is

fwiw: "I see I was up a stump again; so I played another chicken bone and got another think." - Huckleberry Finn, p. 186

Amusingly, he even tried to shout me down as I attempted to read out your post to him, so he could hear how right he was.

I'm beginning to think I've hit some sort of nerve here.

Thing! I mean I'm beginning to thing I've hit some sort of nerve.

Also, "if you think x then you've got another thing coming" is surely only EVER used by angry matriarchal figures - it's a threat. Where "another thing" = swift blow with rolling pin. I mean, is anyone even able to read the phrase "another thing coming" without hearing it in a stroppy female Lancashire accent?

how can a phrase be a verb, mark? what on earth are you talking about?

Oh, sorry Simon - I thought you might have been able to figure this out, considering your job - you add a "to" at the beginning.

my angry matriarch was born in newcastle and lived in filey b4 the war - mother from glasgow, father from leeds - but her accent was not a bit northern: she was a stickler for grammar, which is where i picked it up

"to have a meal" is a verbal phrase obv but this doesn't mean "meal" is a verb (i guess colloquially it perfectly well could be: "we mealed on the beach") (maybe it's how variety refers to a movie's catering?)

(also I apologise for using "thing" at all in my explanation, it probably didn't help)

Seriously, who are these people who don't think that "think" can be a noun?

Seems like both versions are in common use though.

even if it's an incorrect usage -- ie a non-noun being used as a noun -- the GRAMMAR IS FINE bcz it's being USED AS A NOUN

(nouns becoming verbs and verbs becoming nouns are a standard part of the growth of english: there is no way a sound GRAMMATICAL argument can be based on any given word being forbidden this kind of slippage)

i am pro it bcz it is a stronger and more interesting usage therefore TO BE ENCOURAGED

Also, I don't mean that the usage of "think" as a noun is ungrammatical, it's not - "think" can be a noun, end of argument. However the phrase as a whole is silly. "If you think X then you have another think coming". You may not necessarily have another think coming. The correct implication of the phrase is that you SHOULD have another think about what you initially thought, doesn't mean you actually are going to. Or that you have to. Or that it will come to you just because someone tells you it will.

it is confidently nay arrogantly determinist -- the jokiness of the pseudo-bad grammar underscores that, i feel, like gert frobe saying "no mr bond i expect you to die!"

dude! i asked "how can a phrase be a verb", not "how do you make something an infinitive verb form". your "the phrase ... is a verb" statement is like saying "the herd is a carrot", ie a semantic impossibility. i do see what you think you meant, but ... it's still plums, so ner.

sundar: i admire your pragmatism and attempts at arbitration, but i fear it's too late. this thread will trundle on and on, with people going "thing!" "think!" "you're a knob!" "you're a fanny!" until we all die, and the martians will eventually discover its fossilised electronic remains and laugh themselves silly at the poor saps who think it's "thing" that anybody gave enough of a fuck to keep this going for so long.

xposts: oh god, now people who were formerly on the same side are starting to argue too. I GIVE UP. PLS SHOOT ME NOW.

I have never heard this phrase used in a situation where the person is actually expected to change his mind or thoughtfully reassess his expectations. It is always directed at someone who ignorantly expects one result and is therefore in for a surprise when the reality of the situation is revealed through an unwanted outcome -- the "other thing" that is coming.

Right, back to the Economist for me.

actually i quite like "if you think that you've got the other thing coming" but no one ever said that before you in that post!

this is another reason why it's bad to substitute it for a phrase which merely makes mealymouthed noddage to the virtues of tepid pluralism so-called

HAhahaha, this makes me think Ally is like a Macauly Culkin posting away.

Haha, and it's the first time I've wanted to say "The Lex OTM!!" Although it's curious -- I do think there's a divide here between the UKers and the rest of the world and am baffled that Melissa W and Rock Hardy are so firmly on the side of the redcoats.

After having read this thread, I do understand why "think" was originally used, but I don't think that "thing" is illogical. I've always considered "you've got another thing coming" to function as an abstract warning, like "watch out."

The other 10% were the exact opposite; insisted it is "think" and had never heard otherwise.

I'm not going to argue either way, but I never ever ever in my 35 years til I read this thread knew it as anything but "another thing coming". And I'm the sort of pedant who poo-poohs "should of" and misplaced apostrophes and the like.

Anyhoo.

On the other hand the "thing" they have coming is quite clear.

Of course nowadays I usually just shorten the phrase to 'huh, really?'

The wrongheaded phrasing that annoys me most these days is when people shorten 'every day' to 'everyday', which are two totally different things with different meanings. It annoys me so much.

Conclusion: 10% of the population mistakenly hear the initial hard c of "coming" as a "k" on the end of "thing" and are in serious need of an ear cleaning.

Results 1 - 10 of about 75,700 for "another think coming".

Results 1 - 10 of about 170,000 for "another thing coming".

Well, I feel vindicated.

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,220,000 for "Should of". (0.16 seconds)

This does not make these people right.

Results 1 - 10 of about 198,000,000 for "should have".

Without a comparison your statistic means nothing, and with the appropriate comparative figure your argument seems somewhat defeated.

McGovern: 29,170,383

On Curb Your Enthusiasm last night I heard the phrase "it's a whole ball of wrong" - now, I'm British, & I don't know whether this was coined by Larry David, or whether it's in common use in the US, but it's clear that the jarring (to these ears) grammar and the unnatural-ness of the image (even if 'wrong' is an noun it's an abstract one, so how can you have a ball of it?) is a straightforward rhetorical device (intent: humour).

So it doesn't matter if 'think' isn't a noun, or whether or not it can 'come'. It's still THINK, & anything else is a whole ball of wrong.

THING:
Syracuse (NY) Herald, August 12, 1919
PITY THE POOR MOVIE STAR
If you think the life of a movie star is all sunshine and
flowers you've got another thing coming.

So the shift in usage is hardly recent.

from http://groups.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/msg/f8ba608b10ccd7e0?hl=en&

Andrew, first of all you're just regurgitating quotes we already used upthread. Second of all, "should of" is wrong. It doesn't matter if it occurs less often than "should have", it's still wrong. My point was not that more people think the right thing, my point was that a great many people think the wrong thing, and just because you can search for something and get a lot of hits on google to prove its use, it doesn't make it right.

Also, it was pointed out upthread the first time someone corrected me for using that statistic that "should of" together in a sentence could mean something else entirely, so thanks, but I've already been corrected for that one.

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,730,000 for "couldn't care less"

Well, actually I was one of the first to quote Google upthread. I just did it again as the numbers had changed.

My point was that you need something to compare against in order for your statistic to mean anything at all. Of course x people believe the wrong thing. This thread demonstrates that at least some portion of people are pro-think, my point was that they're not necessarily right and your example of "should of" kinda proves that.

i don't, i think it is a divide between RIGHT and WRONG

I never ever ever in my 35 years til I read this thread knew it as anything but "another thing coming". And I'm the sort of pedant who poo-poohs "should of" and misplaced apostrophes and the like

SAME HERE.

Results 1 - 10 of about 1,420,000 for "couldn't care less".
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,130,000 for "could care less".

I agree that we're not necessarily right, but we are in fact right. Perhaps what is happening is that we're both using "should of" to prove our case when in fact "should of" is indisputable. Just as "think" should be, but for some mystifying reason, is not.

Golden thread all the same.

I'd love to see if anyone can find the earliest usage of the expression containing either 'think' or 'thing'. Not that that will change my usage, but it would be illuminating to see.

Thanks, Lauren.

"PHRASE: have ( got ) another think coming (informal) used to express the speaker's disagreement with or unwillingness to do something suggested by someone else: if they think I'm going to do physical jerks, they've got another think coming."

Nothing under "thing".

Incidentally most UK public library members should be able to get OED access via their library website. Unfortunately my library haven't put the link up.

and yet somehow matt DC is trying to convince us that the generality of "thing" is somehow desirable.

well, it's horses for fields of competition, i guess.

Reverse what Maria said and that's me. :)

I tend to agree, Barry. I just don't think it sounds stupid, just aq bit harder to get your mouth around. Plenty of people have no problem with saying "another think coming", so why should they change to something that makes little sense to them? As I said:

I don't really give a toss if people say "another thing coming",

Whereas you seem to be much more prescriptive about the whole thing:

So "thing" is right and "think" is utterly wrong.

It's just, that, like I said...

they are pretty dumb if they don't understand that it was originally "another think coming"

Which seemingly, you perhaps do! And I should clarify, by "they" I don't mean the man on the Clapham omnibus, who probably has far more exciting things to think about than the etymology of stupid phrases. I mean people who have gone to the bother of contributing to this thread and had to thing about the whole think.

You keep saying this. It keeps not being true. Please stop.

But to be honest, this whole thing has reached the point where I have no idea when and where I hear it any more.

Yum yum, mead. Also woad. And being right. Yum.

Anyway, I'm glad you responded in a friendly fashion rather than being disgusted by my venom. I knew you would.

xpost basically what jaymc said, I reckon.

xpost

I posted this upthread but I'll post it again. This is from alt.english.usage where people have apparently been debating and researching the topic for a long time. It proves that the "think"ers are dead wrong if they believe "thing" is a recent error or that the "think" version is more established.

THINK:
Chicago Daily Tribune, Sep 24, 1898, p. 6
Chicago thinks it wants a new charter. Chicago has another think coming. It doesn't need a new charter half as much as it needs some honest officials. -- Quincy Whig.

THING:
Syracuse (NY) Herald, August 12, 1919
PITY THE POOR MOVIE STAR
If you think the life of a movie star is all sunshine and
flowers you've got another thing coming.

Exactly.

only just made the connection with leo rosten's H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N stories, even tho i've been rereadin em to write em up in freaky trigger

bein a GREAT MAN, kaplan wd pronounce BOTH THESE WORDS THE SAME WAY hurrah!

The point isn't about grammar, it's about meaning! "The curtains have are hungry, but you're superseded by the trouble" is grammatically OK but makes no sense. The "another" is the core of the problem, as I see it, with the thing version. If you just see it as a threatening phrase that's not necessarily coming to a different opinion, then it would make sense to say "You've got something coming to you".

It's not about, "Well, you need to think again," it is about, "If that is what you think, you deserve to get this."

Oh, "you've got another think coming" can carry a threatening tone. It's can be like "you're gonna get a rude shock if you think you can get away with doing that BECUASE I'M GOING TO HIT YOU, DO YOU SEE??"

Anyway, this is beside the/my point. Clearly, people do say "another thing coming". It has a life of its own as a phrase now. After a time, idioms can evolve to a point where, without doing some research, the component parts do not tell the story they originally did. But those phrases don't catch on in the first place without having a clear message. No one has convinced me that if you were suddenly to hear "you've got another thing coming" for the first time in your life, it wouldn't make you go... "huh?"

DUDE, SCROLL UP.

It wouldn't for an American, though, Alba. For most of us, that's the only version we've ever heard and the think version sounds weird. When I first clicked on this thread, I thought, 'Think? That sounds wrong.' We also don't use, at least as far as I know, the slang noun 'think' here, or if we do it's very rare. It has a slight resonance of hillbilly speak to my ears, or of mainstream culture's comic take on their speech.

xposts Anyway, I'm glad I'm in an online community where people obsess over things like this.

Nick, why are you being so literal-minded and taking all the playfulness out of this turn of phrase?! It's supposed to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, I thought. Maybe there's something particularly American about the linguistic irreverence of that?

I know! When you grow up hearing idioms as a child, you don't question them, you just learn what they mean by the context. I'm talking about if you heard it for the first time, in your adult life; if the phrase had never existed till now. "If you think that, then you've got another think coming" would immediately sound like a cute play on words, that made sense in its own context, regardless of whether you ever used the phrase "have a think" or not. No?

x-post, there's the fun, Laurel. As I said in my first post to the thread. Well, it was someone's idea of fun, once, before the winter came. I love fun! Don't I??????????

Right I REALLY AM GOING NOW.

-- jaymc (jmcunnin...), November 20th, 2006. (later)

I've heard myself say it in the US. I thought I hear other people saying it too, but I guess I have another think coming.

No. It's a mildly clever play on words if "another thing coming" is already recognized. Otherwise it's just silly.

b. to have another think coming: to be greatly mistaken.

1937 Amer. Speech XII. 317/1 Several different statements used for the same idea{em}that of some one's making a mistake...[e.g.] you have another think coming. 1942 T. BAILEY Pink Camellia xxvii. 199 If you think you can get me out of Gaywood, you have another think coming. 1979 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 221/2 Any design consultant who thinks he is going to get British Leyland right by himself on his own has got another think coming.

think, n.
to have another thing coming [arising from misapprehension of to have another think coming s.v. THINK n. 2b] = to have another think coming s.v. THINK n. 2b.

1919 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 12 Aug. 8/3 If you think the life of a movie star is all sunshine and flowers you've got another thing coming. 1959 Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) Herald 22 Aug. 20/3 Magistrate Edward Robey told them: ‘Please tell your friends in France that if any more come over here thinking they can put money in slot machines and get money galore, they have got another thing coming.’ 1971 N.Y. Times 26 Feb. 37/4 One of those taken into custody identified himself as ‘very prominent in the community’ and declared, ‘After this, if the police think they are getting a raise they've got another thing coming.’ 1981 J. SULLIVAN Only Fools & Horses (1999) I. 1st Ser. Episode 1. 57 Del. If you think I'm staying in a lead-lined nissan hut with you and Grandad and a chemical bloody khazi you've got another thing coming. 1998 A. O'HANLON Talk of Town (1999) I. iv. 60 If you think you're getting into my knickers, you have another thing coming.

(sorry, don't know how the formatting will come out)

!!

Interlocutor: People with navels that recede are innies. Those whose navels protrude are outies. Are you an innie or an outie?

Responder: If you think I will respond to that, you have another think coming.

Interlocutor: I see you are a ninny. To proceed with our enquiries: Inch Me and Pinch Me were in a boat...

Jesus wept. This thread.

No results found for "another bottle opener coming".

Results 1 - 10 of about 622 for thinkoming. (0.15 seconds)

Another think coming

is the best language mutation, haters step off.

Jesus wept. This thread.

This is ILX's own Pred Ship debate.

371 posts, not counting this one? Could we not have seen this thing coming and avoided it?

I thing not!

I doubt the judgement of anyone who would question Judas Priest about such matters.

― Larcole (Nicole)

At last, some sense.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/oct/13/ridley-scott-alien-ripley
In its opening sections, Alien rattles, seemingly aimlessly, around a utilitarian space freighter (the Nostromo) and introduces us to its bickering seven-member crew, John Hurt and Ian Holm among them. If 20th Century Fox was hoping for another Star Wars (and the evidence suggests it was), the studio had another think coming.

what's the problem here? pinefox closed this argument after about 5 posts.

jeebus -- I'm not one to say mean things but I'm offended that anybody thought up "another think coming" in the 19th century, and stewing in my own anger that people use that phrase. Thing, thing, thing...

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~regojpb/page2/files/page2-1025-full.jpg

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~regojpb/page2/files/page2-1019-full.html

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~regojpb/page2/files/page2-1029-full.jpg

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~regojpb/page2/files/page2-1019-full.jpg

that was the light in the tunnel I needed

ALOT

I try not to get into grammar pedant arguments but anybody who prefers "thing" here is a cloth-eared, cloth-brained churl.

INTERESTING LINKS:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/the_think_thing/?page=2

"This misuse of think as a noun is creeping into the speech of many who seem unaware that it is ungrammatical." Mary Weesen in reference to "another think coming" quote!

http://grammartips.homestead.com/anotherthink.html (really smug article, probably written by someone in this thread)

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/have_another_thing_coming

so in conclusion this is like the star bellied sneetches, who gives a crap.

I'm having a laugh

The misapplication of seriousness is creeping into the discourse of many who seem unaware of the playful use of language.

Misapplication of seriousness is a standard gambit in playful use of language iirc

I think this was on the ngram thread, but just for the sake of closure:

http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/chart?content=got%20another%20think%20coming%2Cgot%20another%20thing%20coming&corpus=0&smoothing=3&year_start=1800&year_end=2008

http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=got+another+think+coming%2Cgot+another+thing+coming&year_start=1800&year_end=2011&corpus=0&smoothing=3

PROVEN BY SCIENCE, DOLTS

You're Kiddink?

Hah! Think wins! That relieves a horrible tension I had not experienced before reading this thread; viz. that 'another thing coming' could possibly be considered to make sense in any context other than 'there is one Thing under the bed ALREADY and another Thing is on the way...'

i always thought that people who said "another think coming" just couldn't pronounce words right. all the pro-thingers here are so obviously right, why is this even an argument. "another think coming" MAKES NO SENSE. why would you EVER SAY IT. "another thing coming" is CORRECT.
― The Lex (The Lex), Saturday, 18 November 2006 15:52 (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this might be my favourite lex post of all time.

"unchartered territory"

rmmfe wtf is wrong with people?

i'm not a grammar nazi but i may be a meaning nazi

only a year since they changed editor and christ this fucking paper isnt worth a shit at this stage

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/champions-league/manchester-city-give-bayern-munich-something-to-thing-about-1.1623699

Judas Priest muddies the water on this roight

this is an incredibly stressful thread to read through

Hm, earliest citation in the current OED Online for "another think coming" is 1896 but earliest citation for "another thing coming" is 1897. Both American.

c. to have another think coming: to be greatly mistaken. Cf. to have another thing coming at thing n.1 Phrases 16.

1896 Sunday Jrnl. (Indianapolis) 23 Feb. 10/1 ‘Oh, you think you've seen me, do you?’ and once more that voice gurgled in his ear. ‘Well, you've got another think coming.’
1897 Buffalo (N.Y.) Enquirer (Evening ed.) 12 June 6/4 People who witness the [cycle] races..often see men protest one another..and..imagine that these battles and quarrels of the track are carried on after the races are over. The people who think this ‘have another think coming’, for the men travel in one of the most peaceful parties that follows any line of sport.
1898 Syracuse (N.Y.) Standard 21 May 8/1 Conroy lives in Troy and thinks he is a corning fighter. This gentleman has another think coming.
1942 T. Bailey Pink Camellia xxvii. 199 If you think you can get me out of Gaywood, you have another think coming.
2002 Independent 29 Aug. 17/7 If he thinks he will be blissfully free of directives and paperwork, he has another think coming.

P16. to have another thing coming [arising from misapprehension of to have another think coming at think n. 1c] = to have another think coming at think n. 1c.

1897 Elmira (N.Y.) Daily Gaz. & Free Press 24 June 3/2 They imagine that these battles and quarrels of the track are carried on after the races are over. The people who think this ‘have another thing coming’, for the men travel in one of the most peaceful parties that follows any line of sport.
1902 Logansport (Indiana) Daily Reporter 7 Oct. 3/4 No matter what science tells us, it always seems to have ‘another thing coming’. This census bulletin which links long life with the fast one appears to be the other ‘think’.
1906 G. Wilshire Wilshire Editorials 214 Now if we should try and think up some one person who is satisfied with the existing order of things.., we would most likely have thought that we should find him in the editor of the Wall Street Journal. But if we did, then we have another thing [1904 Wilshire's Mag. think] coming.
1919 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 12 Aug. 8/3 If you think the life of a movie star is all sunshine and flowers you've got another thing coming.
1959 Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) Herald 22 Aug. 20/3 Magistrate Edward Robey told them: ‘Please tell your friends in France that if any more come over here thinking they can put money in slot machines and get money galore, they have got another thing coming.’
1971 N.Y. Times 26 Feb. 37/4 One of those taken into custody identified himself as ‘very prominent in the community’ and declared, ‘After this, if the police think they are getting a raise they've got another thing coming.’
1981 J. Sullivan Only Fools & Horses (1999) I. 1st Ser. Episode 1. 57 Del. If you think I'm staying in a lead-lined nissan hut with you and Grandad and a chemical bloody khazi you've got another thing coming.
1998 A. O'Hanlon Talk of Town (1999) I. iv. 60 If you think you're getting into my knickers, you have another thing coming.

As far as I can recall, I have never used this expression in either form, unless referring to the Judas Priest song or talking about which version might be correct.

And I see that I have even posted that years ago! I spend too much time here.

Had never heard of "Another Think Coming" till now.

https://i.gifer.com/ZDS4.gif

I feel absolutely certain that it is "another think coming," and it causes me great stress seeing people passionately arguing for "thing."

the inevitable verbally slurring together the two words "think coming" sounds almost identical to the two words "thing coming", so in real time no one speaking this phrase needs to worry which is which. the rub comes when you have to write it down. obviously it began as "think coming", but the conventional mishearing makes just enough sense that it has overtaken the more sensible rendering. nbd.

just now happened on the judas priest song in the wild (spotify) and came here to discover this entire thread is actually abt how great my mum was

(btw it's THINK)

Great thread!

But I still say ‘Another thing coming’, coz I’d be inclined to use it aggressively rather than as a warning. I’m sure Alan Sugar says ‘thing’

"Another think coming" is too difficult to say.

I agree, I think only someone like Blackadder could pronounce it clearly - but this is possibly the crux of the problem

I just said it it’s very easy

Not if you actually pronounce the K in think.

^because that’s not how you say it

It is when I say it!

tbf I've never actually said this phrase before

what if you say it all the time but don't know yr saying it

this inadvertency is actually what the judas priest song is about

They're breakin' the laws breakin' the laws of grammar.

A lot of ppl also don’t know that it’s actually “think cummy Bob”

thats right

I don’t want to think about cummy Bob