# You have got another "thing" or "think" coming? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931 "2012-11-14T00:26:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/21 "2012-11-14T01:34:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Thing, and it makes perfect sense. The usage is short for saying something like, “You thought you were going to get that? Well, guess what? You’ve got another thing coming.” > > It’s “think” that doesn’t make sense. ‘Think’ is a verb, not a noun. You can’t have another ‘think’ coming, because there’s no such thing as a ‘think’ in the first place. “Think” can be used as a noun, as in, “He sat down for a good long think.” However, another “thing” coming is how I’ve always used it. Were it not for the SDMB, I would never have thought of “think” in that usage. ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/22 "2012-11-14T01:35:43Z")
I’ve always used “thing” in this context. “Think” doesn’t make sense to me at all. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/23 "2012-11-14T01:38:29Z")
> [@Trick\_Rider](#): > > I’ve always used “thing” in this context. “Think” doesn’t make sense to me at all. Really. It sounds like something Archie Bunker might say. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/24 "2012-11-14T01:39:40Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > It is strange. However I have seen a citation for “think” dating from 1909. I’ll try and dig it up. Posting from phone now and hard to research. To be clear, I’m not questioning the OED, I just found it strange. I think the misapprehension as stated makes sense, but it’s curious the OED’s own quotations don’t make the case for it - I wonder if they know it’s such a bone of contention. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/25 "2012-11-14T01:39:42Z")
It’s “think” in my world. The phrase was never used in relation to “expecting one item and getting another”. In my family it was always used “if you think that, then you have another think coming”. My dead relatives are my cite. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/26 "2012-11-14T01:46:22Z")
[“Think”](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxyouhav.html) Never heard “thing” used in this context. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/27 "2012-11-14T01:55:00Z")
Thing. I’ve never heard “think”. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/28 "2012-11-14T02:00:22Z")
Never question Judas Priest. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/29 "2012-11-14T02:03:06Z")
Think. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/30 "2012-11-14T02:09:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [“Think”](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxyouhav.html) Never heard “thing” used in this context. Clarification for anyone paying attention: at the link, the author states “The OED gives a citation with ‘think’ from 1937, and no evidence for ‘thing’.” The OED quotations **Speak to me Maddie!** and I were discussing are more recent; the reference to “thing coming” as a misapprehension of “think coming” is listed as a “Draft partial entry June 2004” under _thing, n._[sup]1[/sup](with the relevant 1919 quotation). There is indeed a quotation from 1937 for “think coming” listed under _think, n_, but there is an earlier quotation from 1926 under _skin, n_. (“If you think … that it’s any skin off my nose to lose the pleasures of your company … you got another think coming.”) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/31 "2012-11-14T02:15:31Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > It’s “think” in my world. The phrase was never used in relation to “expecting one item and getting another”. In my family it was always used “if you think that, then you have another think coming”. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > [“Think”](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxyouhav.html) Never heard “thing” used in this context. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/32 "2012-11-14T02:21:56Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [“Think”](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxyouhav.html) Never heard “thing” used in this context. Never heard of that. It’s always “thing,” whether it makes sense or not. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/33 "2012-11-14T02:23:45Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > It’s “think” that doesn’t make sense. ‘Think’ is a verb, not a noun. You can’t have another ‘think’ coming, because there’s no such thing as a ‘think’ in the first place. The OED has several cites for “think” as a noun, dating back to the 1830s. ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/34 "2012-11-14T02:25:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Thing. > > I’ve never heard “think”. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/35 "2012-11-14T02:29:56Z")
Well, I sure feel vindicated now. I thought “thing” was right because people make fun of me when I say “think”…but I guess those people have another think coming. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/36 "2012-11-14T02:32:49Z")
Think ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/37 "2012-11-14T02:39:00Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Never question Judas Priest. Judas Priest also had an album called “Hell Bent for Leather” Judas Priest is not a good source for correct usage of English idioms. It’s “think.” “Thing” belongs with “could of,” “can’t hardly,” and “could care less.” ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/38 "2012-11-14T02:42:53Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > “Thing” belongs with “could of,” “can’t hardly,” and “could care less.” Or “head over heels”, “just desserts”, “towing the line”, etc… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/39 "2012-11-14T02:49:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Thing. > > I’ve never heard “think”. Me either. And if I did hear “think” I’d assume they were making a joke, deliberately saying the wrong word to sound like Archie Bunker or Mrs. Malaprop. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931/40 "2012-11-14T02:58:29Z")
It’s “think”, or at least that’s how I’ve always heard it. The anachronistic sound is part of the charm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-got-another-thing-or-think-coming/640931.md?page=3)