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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:
FishWithABicycle · 05/11/2015 11:24

sorry the "evenue" there was my phone getting confused. Supposed to be "even"

Likewise "ofor" supposed to be "of"

I hate this phone.

FishWithABicycle · 05/11/2015 11:22

It is "think" originally.
However DH who is a world expert on this sort of thing says:
although "think" was the original phrase, the long-standing variant of using "thing" has been absorbed into the English language and is now widely understood as also correct evenue though it may have once been a mis-hearing ofor "think". Language evolves through common usage and this is one example of that evolution.

So can we come to a consensus that both sides are right before we reach 1000 posts?

MaidOfStars · 05/11/2015 11:17

bomb-fire night

That could actually be clever.

Fizrim · 05/11/2015 11:00

Slightly off-topic, but someone in a local group on my FB is asking about public displays for 'bomb-fire night'.

leavemealone2015 · 04/11/2015 22:25

Definitely think!!!

hudyerwheesht · 04/11/2015 22:23

I'll bet the OP never thought it would kick off in quite this way. Smile

I used "thing" for years (either because I heard it that way or others were actually saying that) until I saw it written down then I thought "ah, that makes more sense"

It makes sense to me as a play on words in that context -obviously I wouldn't use it as normal speech, as a pp said that would be "another thought coming. "

Never occurred to me that the thing would be something like an argument, a thump,etc.

The problem is you could argue both sides except think is obviously correct so this could go on...

Never read the words "think" and "thing" so many times in one night in my entire life. You when you see a word too many times it starts to look odd and wrong...?

maizieD · 04/11/2015 22:22

Sorry DDD,. And I was prepared to fight for 'nipped' to the death. Grin

DadDadDad · 04/11/2015 22:10

Anyway, I agree this thread should be moved to PC, but someone ought to check with the OP as she would be expecting this thread to vanish after 90 days.

DadDadDad · 04/11/2015 22:06

Yes, it's nipped. You guys are no fun, I could have had maizie thinking she'd gone mad for a moment. Smile sorry Blush

FattyNinjaOwl · 04/11/2015 21:55

Of not if. Stupid fat thumbs.

FattyNinjaOwl · 04/11/2015 21:55

Yes its nipped.
I've just seen well instead if while on Facebook Confused

Redglitter · 04/11/2015 21:53

It's nipped

DadDadDad · 04/11/2015 21:49

nipped!? Where did that come from?

maizieD · 04/11/2015 21:34

Aarrgh; I've just seen another one. 'Nicked in the bud'

Tell me I haven't been wrong all my life to have thought it was 'nipped in the bud'.

heheheheheheh · 04/11/2015 21:15

You're right. It's think, even though thing in this context is a popular misconception.

DadDadDad · 04/11/2015 21:12

Yes, I've just got back from real life too. bertie thanks for engaging with my question, fascinating answer. Now, back to DS's French homework

clam · 04/11/2015 20:37

Nah, Dad is right. I've been pretty cross on this thread.

But I've been off doing Real Life today and had forgotten all about it.

EvansOvalPiesYumYum · 04/11/2015 20:20

We used 'swotting' when revising for exams when I was a young person. But that was quite a while ago.

(as opposed to 'swatting' a fly, of course) Grin

BertieBotts · 04/11/2015 18:31

It was always swotting in the Beano, though :o

BertieBotts · 04/11/2015 18:30

Oh yes!! No we never said swotting when I was at school either in the early 00s. It was revising and if you did a lot, or got lots of questions right, you weren't a swot, you were a boffin. I was a boffin. It was not a great thing to be.

squoosh · 04/11/2015 17:40

Chalet School gels were fond of 'swotting'.

purpleponcho · 04/11/2015 17:39

My little sis, who is at university in New Zealand and 20 years old, talks about people who swot. Always deeply disparagingly.

The word reminds me of the Young Ones. "You're such a girly swot, Neil!"

hackmum · 04/11/2015 17:25

Talking of "swap" and "swop", this is wandering away a bit from the subject, but when I was a teenager we used to talk of "swotting" for exams. An old schoolfriend recently pointed out to me that teens no longer talk about "swotting" - they just say "revising". Does anyone on MN still use "swot" as a verb?

squoosh · 04/11/2015 17:19

'Perhaps the thread could be moved to Pedant's corner if people want it to stay? I don't think it's funny enough for classics but wouldn't mind it being kept.'

It seems fitting that someone should be pedantic about where this thread should be filed! Grin

Jux · 04/11/2015 16:57

"Someone is wrong on the internet" Grin

Just hang onto that and you'll never lose perspective again Wink