# another THINK coming **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779 "2004-06-11T04:27:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/1 "2004-06-11T04:27:10Z")
I often hear the expression “You’ve got another thing coming.” However, I’m fairly convinced that the correct expression is “You’ve got another THINK coming.” The expression is a deliberately ungrammatical way of saying “think again.” Using the word “thing” makes no sense at all. However, if I’m right, it means that the majority (of websites, anyway) are wrong. Google turns up 789 hits for “You’ve got another think coming,” and 2630 for “You’ve got another thing coming.” So my question for you Dopers is two-fold: (1) Am I correct that it should be “think” and not “thing”? (2) Are there any other cases you can find where the incorrect expression gets more hits than the correct one? (If the answer to #1 is “No” then remove the word other from #2.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/2 "2004-06-11T04:48:38Z")
1. No. The expression means that you haven’t thought out your action very well…you have something coming that you haven’t anticipated. Sort of like your OP. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/3 "2004-06-11T04:55:13Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > The expression means that you haven’t thought out your action very well…you have something coming that you haven’t anticipated. [Wrong](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxyouhav.html). ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/4 "2004-06-11T04:59:21Z")
A few more citations showing that “think” is the correct usage: [http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/errors/thing.html](http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/errors/thing.html) [http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/grammarlogs3/grammarlogs469.htm](http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/grammarlogs3/grammarlogs469.htm) [http://www.eharlequin.com/cms/learntowrite/ltwArticle.jhtml?pageID=040201wg01001](http://www.eharlequin.com/cms/learntowrite/ltwArticle.jhtml?pageID=040201wg01001) ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/5 "2004-06-11T05:01:51Z")
So what’s the first “thing”? If there’s “another thing coming” there has to be a first thing, right? Is it the set of everything that I have anticipated? I’ve also heard “I’ve that’s what you think, you’ve got another thing/think coming” which seems to suggest “think” even more. Well, does everyone else think I’m wrong as well? (For the record, I did see at least some websites that say “thing” is an error and “think” is correct, which at least proves I’m not alone in this delusion if that’s what it is.) Does anyone know the etymology of the expression? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/6 "2004-06-11T05:02:53Z")
To clarify, I was responding to the first post saying I was wrong. I hadn’t yet seen the others. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/7 "2004-06-11T05:04:56Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > 1. No. > > The expression means that you haven’t thought out your action very well…you have something coming that you haven’t anticipated. I agree with \*\*Lamar Mundane’s \*\* interpretation. I have never heard the other version. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/8 "2004-06-11T05:37:55Z")
Any answers to my second question? (expressions you know are wrong but are more common than the correct version) You can still answer that even if you think the one I gave doesn’t qualify. One that doesn’t quite work for my google test, but that I think is true has to do with peruse: It means “to read with great care” but is more often (I think) used to mean almost the opposite, “to read in a cursory manner.” Then again, perhaps the second usage (definitely not the original meaning) is now an accepted alternate definition. It’s in [www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com), for instance. ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/9 "2004-06-11T05:38:09Z")
I’ve lived in British Columbia/Oregon all my life, and I’ve never heard the “think” version before today. I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Judas Priest yet. I’m most familiar with the expression from the song lyrics I’ve heard overplayed a thousand times on the buttrock station: “Out there is a fortune waiting to be had If you think I’ll let it go, you’re mad You’ve got another thing coming” Then again, neither phrase is exactly common these days. ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/10 "2004-06-11T05:40:30Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Any answers to my second question? “decimate”. Commonly used to mean “nearly wiped out” when in fact means only “ten percent killed”. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/11 "2004-06-11T08:28:31Z")
[The Phrase Finder](http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/17/messages/128.html) [Collins word reference.com](http://www.wordreference.com/definition/thinker.htm) These references also support “you’ve got another **think** coming”. I’ve always heard and said it this way. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “you’ve got another thing coming”. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/12 "2004-06-11T09:52:28Z")
It is think. That is all. If you think I’m wrong, you’ve got another think coming. ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/13 "2004-06-11T09:53:09Z")
Not a Judas Priest fan eh? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/14 "2004-06-11T10:27:11Z")
> [@JRootabega](#): > > Not a Judas Priest fan eh? Call me unadventurous, but I’ll take authoritative cites and common sense over a heavy metal record sleeve any day. Plus my mum always said “You’ve got another think coming”, and, of course, she’s **always** right. 😉 Oh, and, from _Collins English Dictionary, 6th edtion (2003)_, the following appears under the root word **think** : > [@](#): > > …NOUN _Informal_ a careful, open-mided assessment: _let’s have a fresh think about this problem_… \*\*you’ve (he’s, she’s, \*\*etc.) **got another think coming** _Slang_ you (etc.) are mistaken and will soon have to alter your opinion. I think that closes the matter, Judas Priest notwithstanding… ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/15 "2004-06-11T10:32:29Z")
Bully for you. I was replying to jastu’s post. ---
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/16 "2004-06-11T10:51:16Z")
Another vote for ‘think’… It used to be a favourite of my Mum’s, as in _‘If you think we’re still going to the zoo after what you just did to your sister, you’ve got another think coming.’_ (or many, many variations thereof). ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/17 "2004-06-11T10:54:46Z")
I’d never heard of “you’ve got another think coming” before I’d read this. I always use “thing”, as does everyone else I’ve ever heard use the expression. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/18 "2004-06-11T11:03:35Z")
I’ve heard both, but as “another think coming” sounds grammatically atrocious (it should be “another _thought_ coming” surely?) I have always assumed the correct phrase was “another thing coming”. Using the rationale that **Lamar Mundane** suggested. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/19 "2004-06-11T11:09:18Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > I’d never heard of “you’ve got another think coming” before I’d read this. I always use “thing”, as does everyone else I’ve ever heard use the expression. Ditto. in fact, I’ll go so far as to say that all the cites for “think”, though authoritative, are outdated and incomplete. Whatever the expression may have originally been, it is now _in fact_ “another thing coming” for the vast majority of English speakers. Cites are nice, but there are cases when they are significantly behind the curve. In matters linguistic, what is actually being said by the _hoi polloi_ trumps what authorities think ought to be being said. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779/20 "2004-06-11T11:36:26Z")
I’ve gotta say, regardless of the original phrase or meaning, to say the other is incorrect seems quite pointless, be it “think” or “decimate”. The words/phrases are used to communicate an idea. They do that very well. Language evolves. Get over it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-think-coming/249779.md?page=2)