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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:
Dumdedumdedum · 03/11/2015 10:25

irregularegular My daughter used to say "can't be asked" until I teased her about it - and even then. The difference between your teenaged daughter and my own (I assume) is that mine had French as her first language and wasn't using English with her peer group and had misheard/made a false assumption about my frequent use of "can't be arsed" at home Grin She's 20 now and at university in England - I must asked her what her phrase of choice is nowadays Grin

annandale · 03/11/2015 10:23

I've heard can't be asked but I just assumed the person was completely unaware of what they were saying and felt sorry for them never reading and being uneducated

HolgerDanske · 03/11/2015 10:18

Oh lord I hope it isn't!

irregularegular · 03/11/2015 10:17

I had a very interesting discussing with my 13 year old recently. I noticed that she was using the phrase " can't be asked" instead of 'can't be arsed" (this was jokingly, not a discipline issue!). She was absolutely adamant that this is was CBA stands for these days and all her friends agreed with her. She also thought 'arsed' was very rude and was quite shocked! She also pointed out that it made no sense, whereas she argued that 'asked' did, sort of.

Can anyone else confirm that 'can't be asked' is a thing? Or is just my daughter and her friends?

irregularegular · 03/11/2015 10:11

I had no idea other people were using 'thing'. Never occurred to me that it was anything other than 'think'. Well there you go. And I'm glad to hear I can stick with 'think'. Not that I ever use it anyway!

HolgerDanske · 03/11/2015 10:07

This thread could be the thread that keeps on giving. If ever there was a case for RTFT, I think this is probably it Grin

peasareevilcreatures · 03/11/2015 10:05

It's Think
My mum used to say it to me all the time...if you think I'm letting you go out dressed like that, you've got another think coming etc etc

GrouchyKiwi · 03/11/2015 10:03

OP Did you expect your post to kick off like this? Grin

Astounded by the dogmatism.

LatinForTelly · 03/11/2015 09:56

Ahh, it's all Judas Priest's fault.

It's 'think'.

Can we discuss 'for free' now, or is that for another day?

squoosh · 03/11/2015 09:53

It's 'thing' - sorry.

No. We're sorry.

hackmum · 03/11/2015 09:39

ManaFleet: Come back when you've read this:

www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/nov/18/mind-your-language-another-think

HolgerDanske · 03/11/2015 09:22

Uhm no ManaFleet, it really isn't.

ManaFleet · 03/11/2015 09:19

It's 'thing' - sorry.

HolgerDanske · 03/11/2015 09:16

It makes no actual sense. And it's not because we can't understand the convoluted logic, it's just not very convincing. And as we've got the benefit of always having had the knowledge to understand the logic behind the actual idiom, the incorrect version just doesn't work at all. Sorry but that's just the way it is.

toofunny · 03/11/2015 09:12

"Millions of educated intelligent people use thing"...too funny for words! No intelligent or educated person would use "thing" rather than "think"..!

WizardOfToss · 03/11/2015 09:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DadDadDad · 03/11/2015 09:04

Well I think I acknowledged the flaws, but the explanations are good enough to puncture your arrogant absolutism that thing makes no sense at all. Just because you can't see the sense don't be so close minded about the millions of educated intelligent people who have used thing and see some sense in it

Jengnr · 03/11/2015 08:35

Daddaddad. Your explanations weren't very good though. Another day is correct because there is always this day. Another thing is not because there wasn't a thing already.

toofunny · 03/11/2015 08:32

The first page of this thread has to be one of the funniest things I've seen on this site. It's quite obviously "think", from the phrase "if you think that, you've got another think coming". How can it possibly be "thing", what would the "thing" be? It's frightening how many people here can't accept they're wrong.

hackmum · 03/11/2015 08:28

maizieD: "It's deliberately ungrammatical, it should be 'thought' but 'think' sounds better."

I think you should go away and have a think about what you've just written.

DadDadDad · 03/11/2015 08:05

Yes, it's think, but please stop this dogmatic assertion that thing makes no sense at all. It may not to you but to others it does make some kind of sense. See my posts yesterday, especially 17:05 and 18:34

Jengnr · 03/11/2015 07:58

It's THINK. Thing makes no sense whatsoever. I'm Northern too (Manchester) so please don't blame getting it wrong on regions.

DadDadDad · 03/11/2015 07:56

It was quoted earlier in this thread, but this link is pretty clear - even if thing is the eggcorn of think and is less logical, thing is well-established and I'm not going to get that bothered about someone using it (I used thing most of my life too) - it's hard to spot in speech anyway because the k of think elides with c of coming. itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004971.html

WizardOfToss · 03/11/2015 07:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

d270r0 · 03/11/2015 07:36

Actually, have a look at this article.grammarist.com/usage/another-think-coming/
Looks like 'think' was original but is now very rare and nearlly everyone says 'thing' now

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