# 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:** 4
**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, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/61 "2004-06-11T18:51:55Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > 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. Ooh, lightbulb moment. I now understand why the repetition of the word “think” is funny! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/62 "2004-06-11T19:36:56Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > But yes, what **tdn** said. Would that be where **tdn** admitted to having no sense of humor? Or where **tdn** made the statement emphasis added > [@](#): > > You can hardly blame the idiom (which it is, and if you thin **g** it’s not, yada yada) for not having clever word play when it never claimed to in the first place. ? 😉 * * * The original construction is clearly typical of American humor of the early to mid 20th century, where, borrowing from the wordplay imported with Yiddish along with the colloquialisms of the West, words were often used in the “wrong” part of speech (verbs for nouns, etc.) That such humor is not familiar to all the participants, here, is simply an example of the burgeoning growth of the language in which so many new forms of expression electronically bombard people, that many people are simply not exposed to all the potential _genres_. I find it interesting (considering that “think” was originally a Yank expression, yet many Yanks, here, have not heard it) that one of the major disseminators of the “thing” version was the British band Judas Priest. I would guess that the “thing” version arose among people who were not familiar with that form of humor, who then eliminated the double /k/ sound in “thin **k c** oming” by simply dropping the original **k** , replacing it by a **g**. (Of course, now that the “thing” variant has made it into the world, we will next have various Irish or Irish-influenced speakers saying “thing” as "thin’ " and the debate in another few years will be the exact origin and meaning of “you’ve got another thin coming.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/63 "2004-06-11T19:48:20Z")
Please! Won’t someone thing of the children! ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/64 "2004-06-11T20:18:31Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > This horrifies me. What are these people doing editing a dictionary if they’re that retarded? > > 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.” Well, my dear, think again! I am well educated, my stepmother is a PhD in English and just retired professor (Oberlin/Yale, I might add), and my best friend a Masters and adjunct professor of English. I do not have a degree in English, but I did recently get a 790 out of 800 in my Verbal GRE. I grew up around a family almost obsessive about enunciation, so I know what I was hearing. My almost sole recreational activity is reading. I have never said “nucular” or “mute point” in my life, and I’m telling you that in my 48 years, I have _never_ encountered in either writing or speech the expression “another thin **k** coming.” I’m _not_ saying it’s wrong, or even that it doesn’t make more sense than the expression as I learned it; just that “another thin **g** coming” is in common usage among many well-educated and intelligent people, and if you’re using that as a Shibboleth, you’re dead wrong. Lots of idioms don’t make sense, but we use them anyway. Another thin **g** coming always made sense to me, as in the “surprise” interpretation, but even if it doesn’t, so what? What sense does “raining cats and dogs” make? What sense does “by and large” make to anyone but a sailor? Who cares? Look, I’m usually something of a proscriptivist myself, but this one crosses educational boundaries. I don’t know if it’s regional or not, but there are a _lot_ of people who use “another thin **g** ” because they’ve never heard it any other way, and that’s not because they didn’t make it past sixth grade or out of Podunk. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/65 "2004-06-11T21:04:53Z")
49 year old mid-westerner firmly in the “think” camp. Never heard “thing” until this thread. But as my plumber says: [redneck drawl]“Makes me no never mind, mam.”[/redneck drawl] ---
**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, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/66 "2004-06-11T21:15:58Z")
> [@AvhHines](#): > > What sense does “by and large” make to anyone but a sailor? As a semi-erudite former sailor, I must ask – huh? “By and large” is a sailing term? Also, I never understood the term “heave-to.” As you might guess, I ran aground a lot. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/67 "2004-06-11T22:00:38Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > As a semi-erudite former sailor, I must ask – huh? “By and large” is a sailing term? > . Sheesh! Now you did it. Next thing you know, **tomndebb** will be in here telling about his adventures plying the Great Lakes in his mis-spent youth. 😃 ---
**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, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/68 "2004-06-11T22:11:20Z")
[Not-especially-comprehensive Staff Report on “By and large”](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbylarge.html) ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/69 "2004-06-11T22:21:02Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > While I’m sure the noun usage is perfectly valid, if you try to say “Let’s exchange thinks.” as Webster suggests, expect some blank looks from your audience. Yes, exactly. It’s what’s called an **idiom** : a saying that varies from the norm or what would be considered “correct” but is nevertheless used “incorrectly” in that one phrase. English is full of them. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/70 "2004-06-11T23:25:39Z")
I agree a hunnert percent with **tom~**. I’m 28 and have spent extensive time on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in my life, and have only recently heard the bastardization that is thin **g**. I learned it as thin **k** when I was a kid, it made sense, and I never thinked twice about it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/71 "2004-06-12T00:57:08Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > As a semi-erudite former sailor, I must ask – huh? “By and large” is a sailing term? This was news to me as well, but apparently it’s true. From the _OED_: > [@](#): > > **by and large, _advb. phr._** > > **1.** _Naut._ To the wind (within six points; cf. BY _prep._ 9) and off it. > > **1669** STURMY _Mariner’s Mag._ 17 Thus you see the ship handled in fair weather and foul, by and learge. **1833** _Fraser’s Mag._ VIII. 158 They soon find out one another’s rate of sailing, by and large. **1961** F. H. BURGESS _Dict. Sailing_\* 42 By and large, with the wind near the beam. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/72 "2004-06-12T01:43:25Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > 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. Well, I get it, I just don’t think it’s particularly funny. If it were more clever or amusing than it is then I might consider it superior to the “another thing” version too, but personally I’d rather go with the one that’s not even meant to be a joke than the one that’s an extremely _weak_ joke. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/73 "2004-06-12T02:34:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Next thing you know, **tomndebb** will be in here telling about his adventures plying the Great Lakes in his mis-spent youth. Not based on a _sailing_ term: I’m from the era when wooden men sailed iron ships. And my youth was not nearly as misspent as my dotage has been. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/74 "2004-06-12T03:13:30Z")
It seems to me that people’s preferred version of this phrase is based not only on which _version_ they are accustomed to hearing, but also the _context_ in which they are accustomed to hearing it. I have always said “think”, and thus, I have always used the phrase in a joking manner. The (seeming) malapropism of using “think” as a noun lends an air of jocularity to what might otherwise have been construed as an argumentative statement. The people making the case for “thing”, however, seem to regard this phrase not as a joke, but as an implied threat. Unlike “think”, it would not be used to diffuse a potentially tense disagreement, but instead to imply that the other party had best shut up while they’re ahead (lest they receive that other “thing” that’s coming to them). This appears to be consistent with the individual arguments for either side. I think there is cause here to say that these are not actually two variations of the same phrase, but rather, through different usages, have become two seperate phrases with totally different uses. And if you think I’m wrong about that, well… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/75 "2004-06-12T03:26:23Z")
All these idiot idioms! It’s like beating a dead horse in the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/76 "2004-06-12T03:26:59Z")
“another think coming”? Fuckin’ freaks. 😉 OK, “think” is weird as a noun, especially in that context. And nothing about it is funny. And is wrong because if I want some steak, and some putz next to me says, “Well, you got another think coming,” he’s be wrong. I’d still want a god damned steak. My “think” is the exact same god damn “think” I had before the cretin opened his mouth. My “think” is perfectly fine, and I don’t need any other “thinks,” thankyouverymuch! “Thing” is not weird as a noun, and it makes perfect sense in context. “Another thing coming.” ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/77 "2004-06-12T04:51:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Would that be where **tdn** admitted to having no sense of humor? Or where **tdn** made the statement emphasis added ? > > 😉 Where he said he thought it depended on what you were used to hearing. As he and I both said, we grew up hearing it where “thing = consequences” as in if you think you’re going to X, you’ve got another thing (you’ve got consequences INSTEAD) coming. It’s the way the saying played where I grew up. (Alaska). ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/78 "2004-06-12T06:18:12Z")
I’d never heard “thing” until reading this thread, and I had to really work through a few of the explanations to have it make sense. I think **Roland Orzabal** hit the nail on the head with his joke/threat comment. I grew up hearing the phrase from my mother. For example, after dinner on a long summer evening, I might start gathering up my baseball gear. Mom would look at me doing this and say, “if you think you’re going to the park to play ball at this hour, you’ve got another think coming.” This indicated to me (at eight years old, and now), that I cetainly wasn’t going down to the park, but Mom wasn’t really angry that I thought I might be able to do so. If I was getting ready to leave the house even though I’d specifically been told I couldn’t go out, Mom might say, “don’t even think about leaving this house.” No implied joke, and nothing to think about. “If you think you’re going to the park, you’ve got another thing coming to you,” definitely makes me think something bad will happen to me instead of the thing I think I want. For the record, I’m from the Pacific Northwest, living as far south as Monterey and as far north as Juneau. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/79 "2004-06-12T06:26:25Z")
> [@](#): > > For the record, I’m from the Pacific Northwest, living as far south as Monterey and as far north as Juneau. Oooh, Juneau is so pretty. Did you live there? Or did you mean just on the same parallel (is that the right term?) ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795/80 "2004-06-12T06:35:26Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > It seems to me that people’s preferred version of this phrase is based not only on which _version_ they are accustomed to hearing, but also the _context_ in which they are accustomed to hearing it. I have always said “think”, and thus, I have always used the phrase in a joking manner. The (seeming) malapropism of using “think” as a noun lends an air of jocularity to what might otherwise have been construed as an argumentative statement. > > The people making the case for “thing”, however, seem to regard this phrase not as a joke, but as an implied threat. Unlike “think”, it would not be used to diffuse a potentially tense disagreement, but instead to imply that the other party had best shut up while they’re ahead (lest they receive that other “thing” that’s coming to them). > > This appears to be consistent with the individual arguments for either side. I think there is cause here to say that these are not actually two variations of the same phrase, but rather, through different usages, have become two seperate phrases with totally different uses. Good point. Another vote for **think** here as I stated in the GQ thread. Before reading **Roland Orzabal** ’s explanation I was a little perplexed as to why people were clinging so steadfastly to their incorrect (and I think it has been proven to be incorrect) use of _another **thing** coming_. Now it makes some sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reference-books-exist-people-mild-swear-free/249795.md?page=5)