# So if I think \*that\*, then do I have another "think" coming, or another "thing"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2015, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454 "2015-12-27T07:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/21 "2015-12-27T15:34:45Z")
Its thing. ‘If you think you are going to dance with my wife, you have another thing coming.’ ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/22 "2015-12-27T15:44:48Z")
It’s “think”. “Thing” is a mishearing and it’s a silly one because it makes no sense in context. “You have another think coming” is a play on words. Change it to “thing” and it’s like saying “No way, Fernando” instead of “No way, José.” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/23 "2015-12-27T15:50:25Z")
You have another thing coming is a veiled threat; its not meant to be a play on words. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/24 "2015-12-27T15:53:02Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > You have another thing coming is a veiled threat; its not meant to be a play on words. It makes no sense. “Another thing”? What was the first thing? And since when was a “thing” something to fear? No one would have said “you have another thing coming” unless “you have another think coming” was already an expression. It’s obviously just a mishearing of “you have another think coming.” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/25 "2015-12-27T16:43:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It makes no sense. “Another thing”? What was the first thing? And since when was a “thing” something to fear? No one would have said “you have another thing coming” unless “you have another think coming” was already an expression. It’s obviously just a mishearing of “you have another think coming.” Absolutely wrong. The Brits say have another think but not the Americans. The first thing, in the above example, is if you think you are going to do action A (dance with my wife) then B you have another thing coming…like a punch in the nose. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/26 "2015-12-27T16:44:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It makes no sense. “Another thing”? What was the first thing? And since when was a “thing” something to fear? No one would have said “you have another thing coming” unless “you have another think coming” was already an expression. It’s obviously just a mishearing of “you have another think coming.” It’s a play off the original “another think”- The problem is you can’t say you have “another think coming” and sound at all menacing. But change it to “thing”, and it could be anything- maybe another “think”, or maybe a fist in your face. So it IS wordplay, and a pretty decent one -it’s changing the original lame-ass saying into something that sounds nearly the same but has an edge to it and opens up a whole new possible meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/27 "2015-12-27T16:50:33Z")
You think one thing, but reality is another thing; thus, you’ve got another thing coming. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/28 "2015-12-27T16:50:44Z")
I always thought it was thing but was convinced otherwise in an earlier thread here on the dope. It may be taking longer than we thought but there has been some progress. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/29 "2015-12-27T17:02:52Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > I always thought it was thing but was convinced otherwise in an earlier thread here on the dope. It may be taking longer than we thought but there has been some progress. It may have started as think, but it’s become thing. That’s how most people say it so that’s what it is. Enough may hang on to “think” to make that remain a correct version as well, but there is nothing incorrect about the usage of “thing” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/30 "2015-12-27T17:03:26Z")
Clearly, some of us grew up hearing one variant, and some the other variant. Both variants “work” grammatically. Even if they didn’t, or if one variant really does seem more logical, language often has quirky colloquialisms. Is everyone just going to do their prescriptivist peeving over which variant is _a priori_ “obviously” the better or more correct one, or are you guys actually interested in empirical data on instances of early usage of each variant, and frequency of use of each variant over time? If you look at the Language Log links on my post #9 there’s some data, references and analysis from a linguist. The last link has some analysis of the pronunciation. My guess is that both variants have persisted because they sound almost indistinguishable, and the colloquialism is more often spoken than written. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/31 "2015-12-27T17:22:04Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > It’s **think**. > > “Thing” makes zero sense as wordplay, and I can’t think of any saying or turn of phrase that’s so pathetically ambiguous as “another thing coming”. It’s “think”, which is obvious wordplay. Not especially witty, but enough to have caught on. I have no doubt it was coined by some comedian as a silly version of “you’ll have to think again”. > > Any turn of phrase that catches on has to make sense in context and has to be memorable. “Another thing coming” is not just pathetically ambiguous, it lacks any measure of wit. Oh, right, I’m supposed to be scared of the _thing_, am I? You’re not going to tell me what the _thing_ is, just that it’s a _thing_. OK, right, worst threat ever. Idioms/cliches in popular usage don’t necessarily need to be witty or profound. Seems very simple and straightforward to me-“You have assumed that one thing is going to happen, but instead another thing will instead.” To me “think” is clearly the obviously poor, ineloquent, and nay nonsensical impostor here. Can’t believe the poll isn’t running 90-10 in favor of “thing.” Nouning weirds language just as much as verbing does. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/32 "2015-12-27T17:39:18Z")
Northern Virginia, 1960s and 1970s. Another thin **k** coming. Never heard that anyone used ‘thing’ until people discussed it on this board. And while it’s true that idioms don’t have to make sense, it’s still the default. “He thinks that, does he? Well, he’s got another think coming” is the sort of usage I’d always heard it, and it makes sense: my think is gonna trump his think. Can’t think of a reason other than sloppy speech why it would be ‘thing.’ ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/33 "2015-12-27T17:39:24Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The original expression was with “thing”. When some people started preceding it specifically with “If you think that…,” as a little joke they changed it to “think.” This has caught on enough that some people now say the expression with “think,” even without that set-up line. > > But not me. Always “thing.” Raised in northeast US in the 70s and 80s. I was raised in the northeast US in the 80s and 90s, and I only ever heard “think,” not encountering “thing” until adulthood, I believe in a previous discussion on this very message board. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/34 "2015-12-27T18:09:34Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Absolutely wrong. The Brits say have another think but not the Americans. This is not a British-American issue. I’m an American. There’s no question in my mind that “thing” is a mishearing of “think.” Whether one is more common than another now is a matter for statistical study. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/35 "2015-12-27T18:17:38Z")
It does seem to me that they are almost indistinguishable aurally. Rather than there being any kind of regional pattern, perhaps both variants exist everywhere? If you first think you _hear_ one variant in childhood, perhaps you fix on that and always hear it that way, even if people are _speaking_ both variants. It simply may not occur to the majority of people that the other variant exists unless they see it in writing, or the existence of both variants is raised explicitly. Even if the other variant _is_ seen in writing, it might easily be dismissed as a typo. I _was_ completely certain that my dad used to say “you have another think coming” (he used the expression frequently to rebuke me). But in retrospect, am I really sure which variant he was using? I actually don’t know, they sound barely distinguishable in my dialect. I certainly never asked him to explain the logic of the phrase, since as a child it never occurred to me that the other word was a valid possibility. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/36 "2015-12-27T18:21:36Z")
So Cal late 1950s kid here. It’s “thing.” The only place I’ve ever heard or read “think” is on the 'Dope. And the justifications I read here for the “think” interpretation are strained to the breaking point. Conversely “thing” is both obvious and eloquent. And yes, we’ve done this before. The list below is all I could find quickly, but I recall there are more. Here’s a thread on point from 2012 with 180 posts: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15696858](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15696858) It’s brought up at post 154 \*et seq \*in this thread from 2006: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7265690](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7265690) Here’s a thread on point from 2004 with 95 posts: [another THINK coming - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260966) And another from 2000 which refs an even older thread: ["You've got another think/thing coming.. - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=38218) Turning to the wider world … An unqualified Bing search for “another think coming” has 51,500 hits. An unqualified Bing search for “another thing coming” has 329,000 hits, roughly 6x more. An unqualified Google search for “another think coming” has 82,600 hits. An unqualified Google search for “another thing coming” has 366,000 hits, roughly 4.5x more. My bottom line: Both variants are found in the wild. But clearly “thing” has the weight of numbers behind it. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/37 "2015-12-27T18:23:37Z")
That works for me. A great thing about English, as opposed to Spanish, is that there is no Authority handing down an official version of the language. It is awesomely malleable. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/38 "2015-12-27T18:33:12Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > So Cal late 1950s kid here. It’s “thing.” The only place I’ve ever heard or read “think” is on the 'Dope. And the justifications I read here for the “think” interpretation are strained to the breaking point. Conversely “thing” is both obvious and eloquent. As I said, the current statistics on usage are a different issue, but this is clearly wrong. “Think” is clearly the original and “thing” is an originally mistaken variation. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/39 "2015-12-27T18:55:43Z")
I think I’d better bow out of this thread before I go insane. Why is it that people find it so hard to treat language empirically, and to realize how arbitrary, contingent and variable most usage is? People have no problem grasping that some people in the world grow up using “pense” instead of “think”, and that neither variant is _a priori_ “obviously the correct version”. So why is that when there are dialects and variants _within_ English, people cannot grasp that a variant that is natural, proper and instinctive _to them_, because that’s the dialect _they_ grew up with, may differ from the usage that is equally natural, proper and instinctive _to somebody else_? It’s astonishing how dogmatically people are willing to assert the _obvious_ and _incontrovertible_ logic of one variant or the other, and _asbolutely_ reject the other variant as an _obvious_ corruption of the One True Way to speak English! Ok, I’ll go and make some decaf. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454/40 "2015-12-27T19:18:11Z")
Grew up in L.A. in 70s and 80s. “Think” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-if-i-think-that-then-do-i-have-another-think-coming-or-another-thing/741454.md?page=3)