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Original poster

Has DH got another think coming or have I got another thing coming???

812 replies

NotMyRealName2015 · 01/11/2015 14:56

I’ll clarify Blush

DH and I were having a light hearted debate about who was going to sort the garden out this afternoon (there are weeds growing out of weeds, and we have guests coming this week)
DH said that if I thought he was doing it today ‘I had another thing coming’.

I pointed out the phrase was ‘another think coming’ and that he should now go and do the garden as punishment for his failure. Grin
However, he is insisting I am wrong and that ‘thing’ is the right word. I say that doesn’t even make sense! What ‘thing’ is coming?? He just says ‘English doesn’t always make sense.’ (Not technically his first language but he has a British parent so has always been bilingual and is completely fluent)

MN jury needed. Who is correct??
Loser will obviously be doing the garden. Winner will sit down with coffee and biscuits, looking smug and saying 'you've missed a bit.'

OP posts:
pieceofpurplesky · 02/11/2015 00:20

Spitting feathers here (north west) means thirsty

pieceofpurplesky · 02/11/2015 00:19

I have always said "thing" despite knowing logically it should be "think" because that is what my family have said. As a linguist with an obsession with the fabulous David Crystal I am a believer that language does evolve and this is one that had evolved in many places. If I break it down I can see logic in both.

It is however a small drop in the ocean of language change ... There are bigger fish to fry. Somethink is a mispronunciation whereas "another thing coming" is an evolution in a particular area.
I have many pet hates ... "Will you learn me?", "can you borrow me" , "we was" ... I know Dr Crystal would disagree but these really bug me ...

Fizrim · 02/11/2015 00:12

I'd say chocks away.

Yeah, feathers of fury Hmm I'll stick with thirsty Grin

StarkyTheDirewolf · 02/11/2015 00:09

I'm having a learn-fest here! Enlightening!

BertieBotts · 02/11/2015 00:06

OK here's one - when you want to say "Let's go!" in the style of a WW2 soldier, is it "Chocks away!" (ie, removing the wooden chocks from the wheels of the plane to allow it to move forwards) or is it "Bombs away!" (meaning to release the bombs)?

DH swears it is the second and "proved" it on google Hmm Except he is shit at googling but when I proved it back he refused to look Angry

BertieBotts · 02/11/2015 00:02

It's think. WTAF. I'm gobsmacked so many people are WRONG. :o

slev · 02/11/2015 00:02

Yes! TOEING the line - well you're not dragging it with you, are you?!

And I have never, ever, heard of "spitting feathers" meaning "thirsty". Drivel - it obviously means angry. Not that I understand why...

80sMum · 02/11/2015 00:01

Good heavens! I am quite shocked at how many people think that the word they are hearing in the phrase "another think coming" is 'thing'. It is of course "think"!
The sentence," If you think you're going out dressed like that you've got another think coming" makes perfect sense. If you change the second think to thing, it makes no sense at all! What on earth would the "other thing" be referring to? You can't have another of something unless you have already had one!

clam · 01/11/2015 23:59

No, toeing the line means following orders, as in soldiers lined up in absolute formation, up to an exact line on the ground, not over-stepping the mark.

clam · 01/11/2015 23:57

Oh God, yes! "Towing the line." Have seen some right humdingers on here over that one. People are just as adamant about that as "thing" here.

StarkyTheDirewolf · 01/11/2015 23:57

I would think it was "toeing the line" as in my DM shouting "you really are toeing the line, teenage Starky!" Because I was misbehaving, the line had been drawn figuratively and I was getting very close to overstepping it. Which would result in me having "another thing coming" which would be a clip round the chops Grin

AbbyCadabra · 01/11/2015 23:53

I've never heard or seen "thing" and assumed the op's header was a typo.

Spitting feathers, my grandma would say it if she was thirsty but to me the expression means being in a rage. Is it possibly a regional variation?

Can I chuck in "toeing the line" written as "towing the line", something I'm sure I've only ever seen on MN! Perhaps it's always the same poster who uses it?

Fizrim · 01/11/2015 23:52

Ha, I am over 50!

slev · 01/11/2015 23:52

Wahoo! I thought "think", read the first replies and wondered if I'd had it wrong all these years - and then read the subsequent replies. Am feeling relatively smug.

But top tip - get your in-laws to do the gardening - avoids all arguments. Mine have been here this weekend and spent several hours helping, while I've stayed inside colouring with DS. And I only had to provide them with B&B and the entertainment of taking their grandson round a National Trust Halloween trail - bargain!

clam · 01/11/2015 23:51

Well, I'll be blowed; I never knew that about the feathers.

ilovelamp82 · 01/11/2015 23:51

It's think. I used to say thing until my English teacher corrected me. Obviously as soon as she did I realised that 'thing' doesn't even make sense.

Most people I know say thing and I always want to correct them but bite my tongue.

MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels · 01/11/2015 23:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Fizrim · 01/11/2015 23:49

I'd say spitting feathers was thirsty. I love escape goat!! A cartoonist (hyperbole and a half) did a cartoon about 'alot'.

FanjoFandango · 01/11/2015 23:48

I've always said 'think', and DH said think too when I asked him. When I read the first few responses I was Shock, but now I see that 'think' is correct!

NorahBone · 01/11/2015 23:47

spitting feathers for those who are interested. I am not, by the way, over 50 despite what the article says Grin

StarkyTheDirewolf · 01/11/2015 23:46

As in, my throats so dry, its full of feathers, so you desperately need a brew/cup of tea. Similar to I'm so hungry, my stomach thinks my throats been cut.

clam · 01/11/2015 23:41

"Spitting feathers" is being furious, isn't it? Where does "thirsty" come from?

clam · 01/11/2015 23:40

I wonder how many more posters we're going to get piling in here saying "Oh, I've always said "another thing coming" because I met some woman at the bus stop in 1983 who said it, so it must be right."

StarkyTheDirewolf · 01/11/2015 23:40

I thought "spitting feathers" meant thirsty! Does it not?

Escape goat is brilliant through, conjours an imagine of a hoofed Houdini

Has DH got another think coming or have I got another thing coming???
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