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Post by Daniel on Mar 13, 2015 11:49:02 GMT -5
My editor changed an expression in my manuscript from "she had another thing coming" to "she had another think coming." At first, I thought it was an error on her part. I'd never heard (or read) the "think" version before. Besides, using "think" as a noun is grammatically incorrect. Imagine my surprise when I found out that "another think coming" was the original phrase! The original has since been overtaken in popularity by "another thing coming," but the purists look down on the change as perversion of the original that doesn't make sense.
Apparently, "another think coming" was a witty colloquialism that played on the first part of the saying, which went like, "If you think X, you've got another think coming."
I've decided to eliminate the phrase altogether. If I use the "think" version, I'm sure many readers will believe it is an error. If I use the "thing" version, the colloquialism purists will probably come after me with pitchforks.
Has anyone else never heard of the "think" version? Or is it just me?
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Post by Suzy on Mar 13, 2015 12:13:17 GMT -5
I never heard that before. How interesting! Shows how sayings change with time to mean something completely different.
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Post by Daniel on Mar 13, 2015 12:18:05 GMT -5
I never heard that before. How interesting! Shows how sayings change with time to mean something completely different. Thank you. I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Agreed on how sayings change. I could probably get away with using my original phrase, but I have plenty of alternatives. |
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Post by Suzy on Mar 13, 2015 12:27:22 GMT -5
I doubt anyone would have heard of the earlier version. But you never know. There are always know-it-alls out there who like to show off.
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Post by Pru Freda on Mar 13, 2015 13:12:35 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but I've never heard anything but "you've got another think coming." I've always assumed it's a northern British phrase, and yes, in full it's "If you think that, you've got another think coming", i.e. think again. I suspect most British people use this version rather than having forgotten it!
ETA And I hope that doesn,t make me a show-off!
I also think (ha!) that "think" can be used as a noun. "I've had a think about this and..."
Over time, like so many old words and phrases, the saying has become distorted - people repeat what they think they heard - and you end up with gibberish like "another thing coming" or "I could care less".
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Post by Daniel on Mar 13, 2015 13:37:12 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but I've never heard anything but "you've got another think coming." I've always assumed it's a northern British phrase, and yes, in full it's "If you think that, you've got another think coming", i.e. think again. I suspect most British people use this version rather than having forgotten it! I wondered if in other English-speaking countries the reverse might be true. Thanks for letting me know. |
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Post by Suzy on Mar 13, 2015 13:48:21 GMT -5
I'm sorry, but I've never heard anything but "you've got another think coming." I've always assumed it's a northern British phrase, and yes, in full it's "If you think that, you've got another think coming", i.e. think again. I suspect most British people use this version rather than having forgotten it! ETA And I hope that doesn,t make me a show-off! I also think (ha!) that "think" can be used as a noun. "I've had a think about this and..." Over time, like so many old words and phrases, the saying has become distorted - people repeat what they think they heard - and you end up with gibberish like "another thing coming" or "I could care less". No, Lynda, I meant reviewers of that grammar police kind. |
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Post by carlos on Mar 13, 2015 14:23:46 GMT -5
I've many times used the phrase 'another thinK coming' (with the express or implied, 'if that's what you think...') but I've never heard of 'another thinG coming'. What was the context? What thinG came before? What was the intended meaning?
ETA: I hope I have expressed genuine mystification, and not 'grammar show-off-i-ness' which I am utterly incompetent to claim.
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Post by Daniel on Mar 13, 2015 15:19:59 GMT -5
I've many times used the phrase 'another thinK coming' (with the express or implied, 'if that's what you think...') but I've never heard of 'another thinG coming'. What was the context? What thinG came before? What was the intended meaning? Those questions were exactly the ones I found online when I looked into it. From what I'm learning here, I'm surprised that Judas Priest, a British band, chose to title its hit song You've Got Another Thing Comin'. To me, the expression "you've got another thing coming" has always meant "you're in for a surprise," so I guess the surprise is the "thing" that's coming. In general, that's how I've heard others use the phrase in America. The original phrase, now that I've learned about its context, totally makes sense. However, in my experience, "think" is rarely used as a noun in the U.S., so it's easy to see how it could have transitioned to "thing" instead. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 13, 2015 17:31:46 GMT -5
I only started noticing "another thinK coming" recently, and in writing, not in speech. In the parts of the U.S. where I've lived, I think "think" has been thoroughly replaced with "thing."
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Post by carlos on Mar 13, 2015 17:40:01 GMT -5
More proof that I belong to a former age.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 13, 2015 18:11:23 GMT -5
Then again, "thing coming" might sound an awful lot like "think coming" because of the hard C sound in "coming." So who knows what I've been hearing!
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Post by Daniel on Mar 13, 2015 18:28:36 GMT -5
Then again, "thing coming" might sound an awful lot like "think coming" because of the hard C sound in "coming." So who knows what I've been hearing! I'm sure that's how all this craziness got started. |
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Post by lindymoone on Mar 13, 2015 23:24:01 GMT -5
So, all these years, I've actually been correct when I "typo" it with a "k"? Hilarious. I'd always thought "You've got another think coming" was a witty rewording of the original "thing".
I sit corrected.
But correct or not, lots of people (Americans, anyway) will think "think" is a typo, because it changes what we THINK the phrase means.
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Post by Rinelle Grey on Mar 14, 2015 0:09:28 GMT -5
I've always heard it as 'thing' too, here in Australia. Fascinating that it used to be (and still is in some places!) think!
English is fascinating. Confusing, but fascinating.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2015 4:46:05 GMT -5
I'm an American, and I've never heard of the "think" version. Interesting stuff.
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Post by Daniel on Mar 14, 2015 9:03:23 GMT -5
I also think (ha!) that "think" can be used as a noun. "I've had a think about this and..." I meant to mention this earlier, but you're right; "think" can be used as a noun. I've never heard it used as a noun in America, but I believe I've run across works by British authors (possibly even yours!) that used it as a noun. The usage would not have stuck with me in those cases, though. I probably would have considered it a quaint British colloquialism.  |
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Post by whdean on Mar 14, 2015 21:05:50 GMT -5
I'd heard this before, but I didn't know the original was still in use (as Lynda said). In fact, I've never heard or read the original. And what with the Judas Priest song, well, how can we go back?
As for the editorial side, I think this is worth pointing out, but silly to correct. It's a case of regional variation.
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Post by Rinelle Grey on Mar 16, 2015 5:44:05 GMT -5
I asked my mum, and she said it was thinking without a second thought. So perhaps I've just always heard it wrong! Interesting.
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Post by carlos on Mar 16, 2015 13:43:56 GMT -5
I asked my mum, and she said it was thinking without a second thought. So perhaps I've just always heard it wrong! Interesting. She must belong to the right generation. |
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