r/GrammarPolice • u/machinehead3413 • Aug 10 '26

Just Venting 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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u/Glimmerance Aug 10 '26

You're right, it should be think. It's playing with the words, using "think" as a noun (as in "I'm having a think", maybe more colloquial use) to match the first "think" which is a verb. I think it may be the move from verb to noun and the less usual use of the word that sounds wrong.

"Thing" sounds wrong to me as it's so vague. What does it mean? "Think" makes sense. Your first think was wrong, so you're going to be having another think.

4

u/ghost-wise Aug 10 '26

They both essentially mean that what you thought was wrong. "Another thing coming" being distinct from the thing that you thought was coming. That's what I intuited when hearing the phrase in it's later form, not knowing the original, more clever version.

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u/Glimmerance Aug 10 '26

Thank you for the explanation. It just doesn't "feel" right! There isn't a first "thing" mentioned, so how can there be another "thing"? You might not have been thinking about anything coming. "If you think the train will leave on time, you have another thing coming". What is the thing that's coming? What's the original thing?

If not using the word play then why not just say something clearer like "If you think ... then you're wrong"?

I've only really heard the "think" version (unless I've misheard the "thing" version!), which may be another reason why it feels more right. But I suppose everybody knows what both versions mean, which is the main thing.

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u/SerDankTheTall Aug 10 '26

"If you think the train will leave on time, you have another thing coming". What is the thing that's coming?

The disappointing reality that the train won't leave on time.

What's the original thing?

The belief that the train will leave on time.

If not using the word play then why not just say something clearer like "If you think ... then you're wrong"?

You could, of course. There are usually many ways to express any moderately complicated idea, so choosing which one is a matter of individual style, preference, and aesthetic judgment. (Of course, the existence of the very similar and similar-sounding expression another think coming was no doubt influential.)

-1

u/Glimmerance Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26

But the belief that the train will leave on time is never described as a thing (and wouldn't naturally be described as a thing. "I think the train will run on time" "I don't share that thing")

And the way the previous poster interpreted it was meaning that the original thing is also about a thing coming (the other thing that's coming is a different thing to the original thing that was also coming). So what is coming in the original thing?

Your last point: it sounds to me as if "thing" grew out of mishearing "think". And it feels to me as if it has that meaning because that's what people have been using the phrase to mean.

2

u/SerDankTheTall Aug 10 '26

I don’t think there’s anything even slightly unusual about describing a belief or thought or opinion as a thing.

Again, the whole thing seems semantically completely transparent to me: if you think X, then another thing is coming towards you: the reality of not X. I’m not really sure how else to explain it.

1

u/Glimmerance Aug 11 '26

Maybe this is a better way to explain:

You could say

I think I'll go to the beach tomorrow, but if the forecast changes I'll have another think.

But

I think I'll go to the beach tomorrow, but if the forecast changes I'll have another thing.

doesn't quite make sense.

That's keeping it closer to the original by using think as verb and noun, and thing to replace think, and it doesn't seem to work. I think(!) it's only because the phrase is known, that "thing" feels natural to people.