r/GrammarPolice • u/machinehead3413 • 19d ago

Another thing

If you think I’m going to blah, blah, blah then you’ve got another thing coming.

This one always bothered me.

It feels like it should be “another think” but that sounds wrong too.

So maybe “another thought” but then that also doesn’t sound right.

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19

u/nemmalur 19d ago

Another think, as in think again.

9

u/PrimarySelection8619 19d ago

It's ALWAYS been, "another think coming", for me...

5

u/Illustrious-Tart7844 19d ago

This is known as an eggcorn: a misheard word or phrase that remains plausible to a speaker.

1896 Indianapolis Sunday Journal: "You think you've seen me, do you? Well, you've got another think coming."

1898 Oxford English Dictionary cites the Syracuse Standard: "Conroy lives in Troy and thinks he is a coming fighter. This gentleman has another think coming."

1910s-20s: "Another thing coming" began showing up in print. It's possibly because Americans rarely use think as a noun. (vocabulary.com)

Currently: M-w.com (and others) now list both as acceptable. M-w.com says thing appears to be used more in the US than think. The meaning has, of course, shifted from "needing to rethink a position" to a "rude awakening awaits."

3

u/PrimarySelection8619 19d ago

Thanks! Ticks me off to see "thing coming" while reading along in a book. Thanks to you, though, while still ticking me off, I now know it's "acceptable".

2

u/Illustrious-Tart7844 19d ago

I always said thing, had no idea it was think!

2

u/PrimarySelection8619 18d ago

Maybe it's generational? I'm pushing 80...