Turns out we’ve been getting this phrase wrong all these years and minds are blown
There are some common phrases in everyday use that we know aren’t quite right – ‘every thing that glitters’, for instance, should be ‘everything that glisters’, and ‘bog standard’ is in fact ‘boxed standard’.
But we had no idea – NO IDEA – that ‘you’ve got another thing coming’ isn’t right either.
My copyeditor has corrected 'you've another thing coming' to 'you've another think coming' and I just googled it and she's right and now everything I've ever known is a lie
— Tammy Cohen (@MsTamarCohen) January 19, 2019
And it turns out we’re not the only ones.
No,no, no…
It can't be.Can it? pic.twitter.com/a5ZVtKxlID
— Fiona Cummins (@FionaAnnCummins) January 19, 2019
Oh yeshttps://t.co/X7nQeJmYLC
— Tammy Cohen (@MsTamarCohen) January 19, 2019
I used to smugly think that people who used 'think' had got it wrong, but it was me all along, and now I feel a fool.
— Fiona Cummins (@FionaAnnCummins) January 19, 2019
I've had this too!! And if so many of us use thing, and think it's thing, surely it's not wrong to use thing? It makes much more sense for a start. What is a think? Stick to thing. Stand up for thing. We all think it's thing!!!
— Veronica Henry (@veronica_henry) January 19, 2019
I will never be able to accept this as correct. My mind can’t compute.
— Lia Middleton (@liayiacoumi) January 19, 2019
They will just have to accept the evolution of language, I'm afraid. We have spoken.
— Veronica Henry (@veronica_henry) January 19, 2019
And it prompted quite the debate.
1: I LOVE your copy editor. Please introduce us 2: Thing makes no sense at all. Consider this context: “If you thought that (note the verb to think), you’ve got another think coming” ie: another thought. “Thing” can’t possibly be right. Any thoughts?
— Andrew Gregory (@GregoryAndrew) January 19, 2019
'you've got another thing coming'. As in 'something else will happen instead of what you think'. It makes PERFECT sense
— Tammy Cohen (@MsTamarCohen) January 19, 2019
Hmm. But isn’t it rather about the act of thinking, rather than a way of expressing a “thing” that may be about to happen? As in you thought one thing, now you have another thought on the way which you’ll need to consider…
— Andrew Gregory (@GregoryAndrew) January 20, 2019
Hmm. But isn’t it rather about the act of thinking, rather than a way of expressing a “thing” that may be about to happen? As in you thought one thing, now you have another thought on the way which you’ll need to consider…
— Andrew Gregory (@GregoryAndrew) January 20, 2019
It makes sense if you're talking about a thought, but hear me out: "If you think I'm going to hug you, you've got another thing coming." That thing = a poke in the eye. Would 'think' make sense in that context?
— Dani Olsen (@danikolsen) January 20, 2019
Of course “think” would make sense! It’s a reference back to the “thought” that you were going to hug me, not the “thing” that either is or isn’t on the cards. It’s just another way of saying if you thought that, then think again. It’s not going to happen.
— Andrew Gregory (@GregoryAndrew) January 20, 2019
Shouldn’t it be “another thought coming” then?
— Gwendolyn Desdemona Gunn (@DesGunn) January 20, 2019
But this might be our favourite exchange.
Your copy editor is right. I corrected this recently in the work of an American client, and she assured me that the former phrase has now passed into American common parlance, so is acceptable. Annoying, because it doesn't mean anything.
— Julia Proofreader (@ProofreadJulia) January 19, 2019
I now know my copyeditor is TECHNICALLY right, Julia, but there's a moral issue here (ie that i can't bear to have been wrong all these years). Have now axed the phrase altogether and reluctantly substituted 'you can think again'
— Tammy Cohen (@MsTamarCohen) January 19, 2019
Surely that should be 'you can thing again'
— eigomo (@eigomo1) January 19, 2019
Tammy later came back with an update of sorts.
Wow, 18K likes. Who knew people felt so strongly about think/thing? Please let us never again speak of reNumeration/reMuneration or champ/chomp or card sharp. And for God's sake no more Judas Priest!
— Tammy Cohen (@MsTamarCohen) January 20, 2019
Thanks to everyone who has replied to this. Too many for me to respond individually (not without missing my deadline) but I find it oddly cheering that an idiomatic English expression can inspire such passion. Maybe there's hope for us after all.
— Tammy Cohen (@MsTamarCohen) January 21, 2019