As I learned it: cite is a verb. To cite something. site is a noun. I don’t think it is commonly used as a verb, though someone with their handy-dandy pocket-sized:D OED may prove me wrong there.
The fact that you see something spelled one way on this board does not do a whole lot to validate anything except that there are at least two ways to spell it. One is probably correct. We hope.
Cite is a verb. And a noun. This is just too much fun.
“Dig” is a verb. There is a noun dig. It refers to something dug. An archaeological dig, for example. In that same sense, a cite is something that has been cited.
At the same time, it causes a lot less confusion to just use site, damnit, DJ!
So, Dr., let me get this straight, I’m not supposed to offer an opinion unless I have a cite or SITE to back it up? If so then what’s up with all these WAG’s and IMHO’s?
I could provide links to sites that state as scientific FACT (with “proof”) that the world is flat. Does that make it so?
I did not dismiss it out of hand. I went to the site. I read not only that page, but the home page, and came away less than convinced. It was my OPINION.
You’re confusing “refuting” and “dismissing” with not-being-fully-convinced. BIG difference. I respect Prof. Brians, I got a lot of useful info from his site. But as he, himself, said there were probably many errors in his site. It’s POSSIBLE that that is one of them.
My guess is that the site (cite?) was posted by a friend of yours or a previous post of mine pissed you off. You’re right, I’m new. And I don’t want to step on anyones toes. And when math or physics are involved, I’ll give you all the scientific cites, proofs and evidence I can bring to bear. But when the subject is something as obscure as the origin of a phrase, I’ll feel justified offering my opinion, so long as I state it as such. Which I did. Sorry you got “bridled” but I NEVER offered my opinion as fact! And, on these boards, my guess is that something isn’t answered just because you think it is.
Look, I don’t want any ill will. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I respect that you were trying to help. But IMHO, you were a little over-zealous and hevy-handed using phrases like, “multitude of links I’m fixing to lay on you”.
Ignorance is not fought with dogma.
Oh, and I’ll let the “fixing to” slide 
I just don’t see ‘think’ as making sense. Think is a verb. But in the sentence, it’s used as a noun.
Gotta cast my vote, despite the evidence, for ‘thing’.
Honestly - I was in my teens before I heard anything other than “another thought coming”.
Sauron - Thanks, I am always grateful for an assist!
iampunha - Confusion is often my best ally 
warmgun - The very reason you see WAG and IMHO in front of reponses is to let people know that the following is an opinion. I read your post as a dismissal retsin’s cite of Prof. Brian’s site (how’s that iampunha?) out of hand without offering any backup. You can offer up a Prof. Flatearth site if you wish, but someone is going to come back with 100 other sites (and cites, damn you iampunha!) with better credentialed people and more commonly accepted views. That’s the way GQ works.
So far as I know I have never participated in a thread with you or retsin. This is not me defending anyone nor was it intended to be me picking on you. Was I heavy handed? Yes. I probably will be again. I have received the same in the past. I’m sure someone will toast me in the future. ::shrug:: Again, that’s pretty much how GQ and GD works. Real advice: develop a thick skin and have fun here. It’s a great site (with great cites - I hate you iampunha!). As for “fixin’ to”, 'round here where I live that’s good english.
darkcool - The battery is dead in my sarcasm meter. Please tell me you’re kidding.
flodnak - That would be proper english. As Prof. Brians points out in his article, this saying is an intentionally ungrammatical joke.
Methinks this horse is dead. Can we beat a fresh one now?
See, the problem with “another think” is that it makes you sound like (sorry for the insensitivity, I just can’t think of any other way to put it) a retard. “Think” is NOT a noun! Sure, you can say (maybe not correctly, but commonly) “have a good think,” (or certain other not-really-also-noun verbs)but “another think coming?” To me, saying this is beyond stupid. Not that “another thing” makes all THAT much sense, but it makes more sense than plenty of other expressions.
Hmm… And know that I read more of the thread, it seems I may be dead wrong. Well, in this case, wrong is right. I’ll never change. Let me be ignorant in peace.
I do not think that word means what you think that word means…* The Princess Bride*
Dear Dr.
Why of course I was wolfin’ ya. The guy who invents an ‘inflection meter’ for e-mail wil be a millionaire in about 10 f**king minutes.
My real take: It started out as ‘think’ (I get it) but sounded better to some as ‘thing’. Given all the sites…er, cites…well, whatever 
proper ‘Queen’s’ english would dictate ‘think’, but until this thread I had never heard ‘think’ only ‘thing’. So I’ll stick with it, just as you are sticking with ‘fixin’ to’.
BTW, on ‘Will& Grace’ tonight: ‘thing’!
I haven’t posted to this thread since the cite at that site because I’m in the “Well crap, it looks like ‘think’ is right, but it sure seems goofy to me” camp. And I don’t think I have ever heard anyone use anything but ‘thing’. That is until this morning. I was at the grocery store and this extremely chatty checker is telling me about how someone broke into her house and they are leaving this weekend and she is worried, and so on. I’m thinking to myself, “that is too bad for you, but I just want to pay for my stuff and leave.” Anyway, as I finally am about to leave she says, “Well, if he thinks he can break in again he has another thought coming.” Not exactly ‘think’, but closer to ‘think’ than ‘thing.’ Damn.
Yeah, I know. It’s a pisser. Still. I say, “THING sayers unite!”
Hey, warmgun, can I use your ‘dogma’ line a my sig?
I have another literary cite.
“You’ve got another think coming” is used more than once in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
I know this because until I read that book, I had been under the mistaken impression that the phrase was “another thing”. After reading the book, I realized that “another think” made more sense.
It also occurred to me that the original expression was “you’ve got another think coming,” and that perhaps it was just heard wrong and changed to “thing” by some folks. Make sense?
spoke-, good guess. It probably also had to do with the context it was used in. If the sentence were something like, “If you think you have a refund (a thing)coming to you, you have another thing (say maybe a foot in the ass, as muppetsoup suggested) coming”
Now that I think about it, maybe both (either?)can be used depending on the context.
Strangely, the ‘think’ camp tend to be the ‘citers’ and the ‘thing’ group leans to gut feelings, what SOUNDS like it should be. Odd.
Thanks to the many cite sites provided, especially by Dr. Jackson, I have to admit my eyes have been opened. But like darkcool I’m sure I’ll stick with ‘thing’. To me it sounds better, makes more sense, it’s less insulting and it’s funnier. ( “if you ‘thinkers’ think I’m fixin’ to change, you’ve got another thing coming!” )
Muppetsoup- cool handle
darkcool- knock yourself out. Yeah, I saw Grace scream out ‘thing’, too.
And finally, Doctor Jackson, where’s that damned “inflection meter” when you need it. I just whipped out my skin calipers. Skin check - thick. I have thouroughly enjoyed our banter. Reporting no damage to Ego or feelings. Looking forward to another exchange with you in the future!
FTR, I grew up in Texas, ‘fixin’ to’ and ‘y’all’ are staples of my vocabulary as well. I get called on it a lot out here in Ca.
Space Vampire said:
:rolleyes:
I can only guess that you imagine that the Council for English Colloquialisms to be Used from This Point Forward (or CFECTBUFTPF) convened one afternoon and said, “We need a new phrase that a person can use to indicate to another that future results may be the opposite of what is expected. How about this one?” And then promptly screwed the pooch by using “think” as a noun.
More likely than not, as happens with most of these phrases, is that some person, at some point in time, due to a mental blip of some kind, mistakenly said, " . . . you’ve got another think coming." (or even said it on purpose, to be funny). People around them found it clever, began saying it themselves, and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on. It’s supposed to sound funny. Otherwise it would just be boring and pedestrian. It’s these kind of phrases that make English what it is.
warmgun,
Thanks. Another Texas transplant, huh?
I’ve also only heard thing. The understanding that I had of it is that you have another THING (a blow to the head, an unexpected surprise, hey, thing is a very general term) coming.
And, Judas Priest used it, and you know what scholarly folk they are.
I’m so sure, I’d bet Space Vampire’s bank account on it.