# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 3)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157 "2026-01-29T18:21:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 131
### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2601 "2026-08-07T18:14:34Z")
I said “no” for ketchup. Only because I’ve never voluntarily tasted it. I’ve involuntarily had it a few times. I cannot fathom how it made the list (although my wife loves it, so perhaps others do too)
---
### Author:  [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2602 "2026-08-07T18:26:36Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#):
>
> In the list of great foods, I’m happy to see several from Malaysia, Singapore, and southern India. Mrs. Map is Malaysia-born and of South Indian roots, so I’m quite familiar with dosa, chicken rice, chili crab…and especially **rendang**.
And it’s so good. I’ve only had it once, at a friend’s house. Her husband is Chinese, but he grew up in Malaysia, and they both love to cook. They made a feast that include midwest corn on the cob and rendang and I don’t remember what else, but the rendang stood out.
---
### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2026, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2603 "2026-08-07T21:49:22Z")
I have no objection to ketchup, but it seems very weird to me to put it on a list of “best foods”. That seems like saying salt or pepper is one of the best foods. It’s a condiment, not a food.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2604 "2026-08-07T22:02:39Z")
I agree, and it’s not even a _good_ condiment. It’s like, Baby’s first condiment.
---
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2605 "2026-08-08T02:37:29Z")
I think it’s a pretty good condiment. But, i agree that it doesn’t belong on a list of “best foods”. And if it does, “salt” ought to be at the top of that list.
---
### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2606 "2026-08-08T22:06:46Z")
I’m always surprised that there are people who think the correct phrase is “another thing coming”. What the hell does that even mean? The origin is “if you think X, you have another think coming”.
Google ngrams clearly supports this. The “another think” phrase was essentially the only form in use from around 1900 when it first appeared until about 1980. After that, “another thing” appeared and gradually rose until both forms were about equally common by around 2016. But “another thing” is clearly a mishearing of an unusual turn of phrase.
> **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=another+think+coming%2Canother+thing+coming&year_start=1880&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=false)**
>
> Google Ngrams: another think coming, another thing coming, 1880-2022
---
### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2607 "2026-08-08T22:21:50Z")
Because “think” is such an odd noun, of really restricted usage, while “thing” can stand in for a variety of nouns. “I’m going to sit and have a think” (=engage in the act of thinking), is something I might say, but I would never, ever say that “a think is coming.”
---
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2608 "2026-08-08T22:40:23Z")
And when I’ve heard the phrase at all, the word was unambiguously “thing” and the thing coming was a threat being given by the speaker.
---
### Author:  [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2609 "2026-08-08T23:23:20Z")
“Another think coming” = “You should think about it again.”
[The good folks at Merriam-Webster agree with “think.”](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/another%20think%20coming#dictionary-entry-2)
---
### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2610 "2026-08-08T23:23:58Z")
Yep. I am 100% Team Thing.
Whomever came up with “another think” was just trying to be clever and it caught on a (very little) bit.
mmm
---
### Author:  [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2611 "2026-08-08T23:28:27Z")
> [@dirtball](#):
>
> The good folks at Merriam-Webster agree with “think.”
Pretty much any time M-W wade into one of these arguments they’re flat out wrong.
---
### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2612 "2026-08-08T23:30:50Z")
Logically, it has to be “think”. “Another think” implies a previous think, which the speaker is insisting is wrong, and should be reconsidered.
“Another thing” implies a previous thing… that is what? So there should be additional things?
Does not compute.
---
### Author:  [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2613 "2026-08-08T23:36:22Z")
> [@colinfred](#):
>
> Pretty much any time M-W wade into one of these arguments they’re flat out wrong.
Maybe I’ll get that printed on a T-shirt.
---
### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2614 "2026-08-08T23:41:05Z")
> [@markn\_1](#):
>
> I’m always surprised that there are people who think the correct phrase is “another thing coming”. What the hell does that even mean? The origin is “if you think X, you have another think coming”.
Why do you “think” people keep _insisting_ that the “thing” variation makes _no_ sense? [in the old thread as well as one off-site linked there] Very simple to me as well as to other Dopers:
> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> And when I’ve heard the phrase at all, the word was unambiguously “thing” and the thing coming was a threat being given by the speaker.
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> “Another thing” implies a previous thing… that is what? So there should be additional things?
>
> Does not compute.
You think one thing is coming (hence your original notion = expected event are one and the same), but another is what you’ll actually get. This is **not** hard to grasp, people.
Oh, I get the other variation all right (first past the post or not), just think it is lame & weak as well as poorly constructed phonetically.
---
### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2615 "2026-08-08T23:41:21Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> Whomever came up with “another think” was just trying to be clever and it caught on a (very little) bit.
What is your evidence for this belief?
How do you reconcile it with the ngram results I posted above, which show “think” used almost exclusively from 1900 to 1980, after which “thing” slowly gained in usage? Doesn’t that show the exact opposite of what you’re claiming?
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [August 8, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2616 "2026-08-08T23:52:34Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> You think one thing is coming (hence your original notion = expected event are one and the same), but another is what you’ll actually get.
I long interpreted it this way, as “You’ve got another thing coming.” The first time I encountered the “another think” version, I thought it sounded really weird.
But I cannot claim that my way is the correct or original way. It’s what I thought it was, but I may have… well, you know.
---
### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2026, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2617 "2026-08-09T00:20:01Z")
I have never heard the phrase “You’ve got another thing coming.”
I’ve only ever heard “think”. But then I live in the UK.
---
### Author:  [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2618 "2026-08-09T00:22:58Z")
I also live in the UK, but I’ve heard pretty much exclusively “thing”. Whilst I’m aware there are strange people out there that say “think” so far they are only theoretical, never encountered one in the wild.
---
### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2619 "2026-08-09T00:38:19Z")
It has occurred to me that “think coming” can sound very much like “thing coming”
unless you enunciate the k-c bit carefully. So maybe people were saying “thing”.
---
### Author:  [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157/2620 "2026-08-09T00:56:04Z")
> [@markn\_1](#):
>
> How do you reconcile it with the ngram results I posted above, which show “think” used almost exclusively from 1900 to 1980, after which “thing” slowly gained in usage? Doesn’t that show the exact opposite of what you’re claiming?
Or depends how you read it. I see the two being invented at the same time, with “thing” originally barely in the lead. Then “think” picks up. But “think” doesn’t make any sense because “think” isn’t a noun. And to the extent that English allows you to noun verbs, “think” isn’t something that someone can do to you, it’s something you do yourself. So “you have another think coming” is just a bizarre phrase.
But apparently one that a lot of people have used. Why is beyond me.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=130)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-3/1027157.md?page=132)