# Reference books exist, people! (mild, swear-free) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 11, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795 "2004-06-11T10:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/41 "2004-06-11T16:42:17Z")
So, to all you people who claim that “think” shouldn’t be used as a noun… are you sure you don’t want to _have a think about that_…? 😃 ---
**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, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/42 "2004-06-11T16:44:35Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Cofidied? That should read “codified”. I meant that when “Louie Louie” is written down, what’s written down _is_ the song. That codification can be referred to again and again. A significant-enough divergence from the codification of “Louie Louie” yields a different song. Languages don’t work like that. When someone says “… another thing coming”, they are not said to be not speaking English. And any individual language can accomodate quite a bit of divergence from any proposed “norm”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/43 "2004-06-11T16:48:22Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > No, something else = a thing. _Another_ thing, implies there is a first thing out there… where is it? What’s the first thing? Try before the comma. If you think I’m buying you a beer (the purchase of which constitutes thing 1), then you have another thing (the lack of the purchase of a beer) coming. Two things. The purchase of a fine and tasty brew, and utter disappointment. One, two. First the one thing, which you are expecting, then, instead, the other thing, which you did not want. It makes complete sense. I wonder if people that don’t get this are trying deliberately not to. ---
**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, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/44 "2004-06-11T16:48:52Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > This horrifies me. What are these people doing editing a dictionary if they’re that retarded? Sorry … there are two equally legitimate versions of the phrase. > [@lissener](#): > > Frankly, I tend to subtract an IQ point or two from my impression of a person when they say “another thing coming.” I consider it on a par with “mute point” or “nucular.” Understand that these apparent errors of language are in no way related to intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/45 "2004-06-11T16:50:03Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > are you sure you don’t want to have a think about that Oh, I just couldn’t… I’m stuffed. I think I could have some later, though. Talk to me then, I’ll think about it. 😉 ---
**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, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/46 "2004-06-11T16:54:44Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > No, something else = a thing. _Another_ thing, implies there is a first thing out there… where is it? What’s the first thing? As I indicated in the GQ thread, you are applying logic to an inherently illogical process. An idiom does not have to follow logical rules – there need not be a first “thing”. But in this case, your question can be answered: “If you think I’m going to buy you a drink, you’ve got another thing coming.” The first thing is, depending on context: a) the expectation that the first party will buy a drink b) the discrete purchase of a drink c) the drink itself ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/47 "2004-06-11T16:58:54Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > That should read “codified”. Ah. I was wondering if it was a typo or if I was about to learn a new word. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/48 "2004-06-11T17:15:41Z")
If you think I’ll sit around as the world goes by, you’re thinkin’ like a fool, it’s a case of do or die Out there is a fortune waiting to be had If you think I’ll let it go, you’re mad, you’ve got another… What’s that? You don’t consider Judas Priest lyrics to be valid reference material? But, man, they’re _English_!!! [sub] I had always heard it as “you’ve got another think coming, too.” I sort of assumed it was a joke, think sort of rhyming with thing and all…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/49 "2004-06-11T17:28:10Z")
Oh, and another think: If “another think” is a play on words, what is the phrase supposed to be a play on? All I can think of is that “think” sounds very much like “thing”, which would mean that “another thing” would have to had predate it by quite some time. But obviously that’s not the case. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/50 "2004-06-11T17:46:14Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > But, in the UK, at least, “another think coming” is perfectly cromulent. I would hope that in light of this whole “correctness of think/thing” discussion, the irony of your use of the word “cromulent” is not lost upon you… ---
**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, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/51 "2004-06-11T17:47:37Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Oh, and another think: If “another think” is a play on words, what is the phrase supposed to be a play on? All I can think of is that “think” sounds very much like “thing”, which would mean that “another thing” would have to had predate it by quite some time. But obviously that’s not the case. Huh? Look here. The play on words has been subtly highlighted for you. If you **THINK** I’m going to spell this out… you’ve got another **THINK** coming. Do you see? Repetition of the word “think”. Repetition, one of the oldest comic devices in the book, especially when teamed with an element of surprise, which in this case stems from the unexpected use of the word “think” instead of “thought”, which is what the phrase is actually saying. (If you think that, you have another thought on the way.) Imagine a music hall routine or something (for all I know this may be how the phrases got started): Wiseguy 1: “Well you know what I think? I think you oughta let me drive, that’s what I think…” Wiseguy 2: “Yeah, well then you got another think coming!” Trying to deconstruct a humorous expression like this is like trying to describe a passionflower to a blind man. You either get it or you don’t, I guess. ---
**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, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/52 "2004-06-11T17:57:07Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > I would hope that in light of this whole “correctness of think/thing” discussion, the irony of your use of the word “cromulent” is not lost upon you… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/53 "2004-06-11T18:00:15Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Do you see? Repetition of the word “think”. Yeah, that’s a real knee slapper. :dubious: “Think” replaces “thought.” To me, it would seem more clever if “think” replaced both “thought” and “thing.” But apparently, I humor impaired. ---
**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, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/54 "2004-06-11T18:15:16Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Yeah, that’s a real knee slapper. :dubious: Heh. I never claimed it’d win a Perrier Award, but at least it is mildly clever. “If you think X, you’ve got another THING coming” is by contrast a real clunker; a non-idiom if you like. But hey, maybe I _should of_ let this slip. We is on da innernet, after all… ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/55 "2004-06-11T18:21:53Z")
The way I’ve always heard it used, even IF after a saying “if he thin **k** s that…” is he’s got another thin **g** coming. But in the way I’ve heard it, it (thing) was always understood as an implicit threat. As in, if he thinks that, where THAT is generally going to get away with something, then he’s got another thing coming, where thing, is something like a whap upside the head for thinking he can get away with “that” in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/56 "2004-06-11T18:22:02Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Heh. I never claimed it’d win a Perrier Award, but at least it is mildly clever. “If you think X, you’ve got another THING coming” is by contrast a real clunker; a non-idiom if you like. True, true, but I don’t think it is said to be a joke. You can hardly blame the idiom (which it is, and if you thing it’s not, yada yada) for not having clever word play when it never claimed to in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/57 "2004-06-11T18:27:41Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > As in, if he thinks that, where THAT is generally going to get away with something, then he’s got another thing coming, where thing, is something like a whap upside the head for thinking he can get away with “that” in the first place. Whap upside the head, or a major disappointment, or the loss of a job, or… To me, “thing” makes much more sense than “think” precisely _because_ it doesn’t contain clever word play. It can be said in all seriousness. I suppose whichever one sounds odd to you, it’s because of which one you’ve heard your whole life. ---
**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, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/58 "2004-06-11T18:33:25Z")
OK, well it takes all sorts. From my experience of the phrase, there is no implied threat - “another think coming” means something more like “the truth will soon dawn on you”. We Brits are just less violent, you know 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/59 "2004-06-11T18:38:25Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > OK, well it takes all sorts. From my experience of the phrase, there is no implied threat - “another think coming” means something more like “the truth will soon dawn on you”. We Brits are just less violent, you know 😉 Hmmph!, Well, having the truth dawn on one, is STILL having a _thing_ happen, as opposed to only thinkin’ it. 😃 But yes, what **tdn** said. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/60 "2004-06-11T18:39:16Z")
Put me firmly in the Thing camp. Thing is just a more effective phrase it has an ominous vague quality. My grandma used to use this phrase as an ominous threat(effectively I might add) “If you’re planning on going to the movies then you’ve got another thing coming!” A vague thing and possibly horrible thing is coming, much as the it in “you’re going to get it” or the Shakespeare “some **thing** wicked this way **comes** ” sence. But think? pshawww. Oh no I’ve got a think coming, won’t someone please save me from the think. I just can’t stand the suspense of waiting for the think I’m about to recieve. Weak, just weak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795.md?page=4)