Another what coming?

After my last post, Sarah pointed out to me that she has only ever heard the phrase “another thing coming.” In fact, she thought I must have made a typo. I, on the other hand, had only ever heard “another think coming,” until about a year ago. My take was that it was a play on words; hers, that it was to be taken less literally, as “something else is coming to change your mind.”

So, Google to the rescue, right? Wrong! The “thing” version has 253,000 hits (and a hit Judas Priest song), while the “think” version has only 50,300 hits. But wait, there’s more! Many of the non-song hits for “thing” are criticizing that version as a mistake for “think.” But… the earliest recorded form may be “thing.” Wiktionary claims that “think” is correct in British usage, while “thing” is the “only common form in US.” This last bit is patently false, as it’s a very common saying in the South, and, like I said, I had never heard “thing” until a year or so ago. This has inspired some impassioned debate over at wordreference, with Americans, Brits, and Aussies all offering different opinions.

So, which is it? Chime in in the comments!

P.S. Personally, I just like “think,” so proper usage be damned, that’s what I’m going with!


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3 responses to “Another what coming?”

  1. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    We obviously grew up in different souths. I’ve only seen “think” written in e-mail forwards. It’s thing, dude. 😛 Another thing coming, as in, not the thing one expects, but another thing. Think is a verb. Not a noun.

    That’s my take as a Texan and an English major.

  2. […] remember what site, now – that referred to a “bold-faced lie.” This is another one of those phrases that have evolved to the point that there are now at least a few variants, but little certainty on the […]

  3. Ed Avatar

    At least one person has tried to do some historical digging on this one, and says “think” is the older version, for what that’s worth…

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