This is the worst thing I’ve seen in a long time

[noblegiraffe]

Worse than Brexit. How can we have fallen so low? ‘Thing’ doesn’t make any sense!

Does this mean that we actually live in a world where ‘doggy-dog world’ could legitimately become the correct phrase if enough people get it wrong?

Yes. Lots of words have changed in ways like this, including centuries ago - because of what they sound like, and because people replace them with versions that are easier to say.

I'm a pedant - though I also accept that language changes, I often hate it. But I kind of quite like "doggy-dog world" It's nonsense, but so are a lot of English phrases.

This is like the third thread about thing/think in as many weeks. [yawn]

@kjhkj

By say, I meant write!
My own poor grammar is ironic really

Run is a verb but people often say they " go for a run" ,
I say "I will have a think" so when you say "if you think that, you have another think coming" it makes perfect sense.

This isn't a matter of opinion or consensus, it's a matter of fact. Facts are true regardless of whether or not they are believed by the majority.

It is”if you think that you have another think coming”. Otherwise it would be “if you thing that you have another thing coming” which zero sense at all.

Makes zero sense FFS

And 'think' is a noun. Consider 'I'm having a think about grammar'. In that sentence, the verbs are 'am' and 'have', and the nouns are 'think' and 'grammar'.

Yes think can be a noun. But the reason the phrase sounds odd and akward is that generally you have just used "think" as a verb. As in a PP's example: "If you think preparing the nursery is tiring, you've got another thing coming when baby arrives!"

If you think... = verb

To then use "another think coming" sounds awkward because you have not been talking about having a think in the first place. You've been talking about thinking something.

Also while people do say "I'll just have a think..." they do not ever say "I've got a think coming".

Having this discussion though, we do need to distinguish between phrases/idioms and grammar. Quoting a phrase wrong is very different from not knowing the difference between the words “of” and “have”.

This is like the third thread about thing/think in as many weeks.

You must be here a lot.

And despite the apparently many threads, people are still getting it wrong. More threads needed!

There’s another one going at the moment...
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pedants_corner/3683670-Pedants-unite-Please-come-vote-for-another-think-coming

It’s really nice to be divided about something that isn’t you-know-what...

" Quoting a phrase wrong is very different from not knowing the difference between the words “of” and “have”."

But it makes no more sense to use "thing" as it does to use "of".

This isn't a matter of opinion or consensus, it's a matter of fact. Facts are true regardless of whether or not they are believed by the majority.

I agree with this in a more general sense - but when it comes to language change, what people predominantly use and say is language. There is no other source except actual majority language use. That's why eventually dictionaries and style guides etc will concede that something has changed.

That's why we now have adder instead of "nadder" and apron instead of "naperon". Nadder and naperon were "correct" but they are not now.

than, not as!

With regards to using verbs as nouns, does that apply to all verbs then? What are the rules on that? I almost always use the verb, where some people would use the noun. 'I will read the document' instead of 'I will have a read of the document'. 'I'll think about' instead of 'I'll have a think about'.

Where do we draw the line? 'My dog died last week and I'm still grieving' makes sense, but 'my dog died last week and I'm still having a grieve' doesn't.

Yes, language is changing all the time, and not always in a good way. I've heard people say 'that movie made me do a cry', which is so ridiculous I nearly cried!

Most verbs are also used as nouns, or can be.

Jump
Laugh
Chop
Fold
Book
Hurry

It's harder to think of verbs that aren't. Grieve is one maybe.

I don't no. Its discuting I agree @noblegiraffe

People are fick az fuk 'onestly!

'that movie made me do a cry'

Prepared to be flamed... but I actually don’t mind phrases like that, with the disclaimer that I’d hope no one thought that was grammatically correct but rather that they’re having fun with language.

Yes think can be a noun. But the reason the phrase sounds odd and akward is that generally you have just used "think" as a verb. As in a PP's example: "If you think preparing the nursery is tiring, you've got another thing coming when baby arrives!"

'You have another thing coming' sounds much more odd and awkward to my ears. It's jarring to hear 'another thing' when there hasn't been a first 'thing'. The sentence is audibly nonsensical.

To then use "another think coming" sounds awkward because you have not been talking about having a think in the first place. You've been talking about thinking something.

This doesn't make sense. Thinking about something is the same as having a think, surely? Whereas 'another thing' refers back to something you have not previously included in the sentence.

Also while people do say "I'll just have a think..." they do not ever say "I've got a think coming".

True, but many well known phrases uses words in a way which is peculiar to that phrase. Consider 'Curiosity killed the cat', where a word commonly understood to be a noun is the personified subject of the sentence.

Regardless of the reasons why people are wrong about this phrase (which may or may not be reasonable and explicable), they are fundamentally still wrong.

Oh how embarrassing! I always thought it was thing but I don't believe I've seen it written down (it's more something a parent would shout). It's going to be hard to correct myself as thing sounds right in my head.

I agree with this in a more general sense - but when it comes to language change, what people predominantly use and say is language

I don't dispute this as a general rule at all, but I think there is a difference between an evolution of grammar and a common misapprehension of an established phrase.

Perhaps in time those who are wrong about this phrase will become such an overwhelming majority that the original / correct usage will pass out of existence and become an anachronism, but I don't think we have reached that stage yet. The consensus from those in the know (the OED, the Guardian style guide, etc) is that the correct phrase is still 'think'. Therefore, those who try to argue that it's 'thing' are simply not correct.

All the woman on this thread would of heeded you're advise if youd of put it in a more open minded manor yabu

MyCatsHat defecate and urinate are 2 more . Also grow and decompose.

Thundermum I don't mind people having fun with language (despite the impression I've given here ) but when it becomes something people say seriously, I can't bear it.
Obviously when very little children say it, it's adorable. I'll never forget DS at 2 and half telling me his sister 'did a kill on that spider'

Glasshouse But no one uses the whole phrase? People just say the last bit “you’ve got another think/g coming”. If people used the whole phrase then that’s a plausible argument.

Using the word “wrong” is so restrictive. People are free to use language however they like as long as others understand their meaning.

To then use "another think coming" sounds awkward because you have not been talking about having a think in the first place. You've been talking about thinking something.

Yes, it sounds awkward, MyCatsHat, but as Yutes said, it’s meant to be a joke. That’s the whole frigging point. The joke rested on the presumption of a populace that was literate enough to know it was awkward and therefore to see the humour in it, like many of those kind of jokes from the 20th century.

When you randomly change it to “thing”, you lose the joke, and that’s the shame of it. Shared jokes are part of a shared culture and make us feel as if we belong to a group; if most people understand this phrase, there’s a little “oh, I get it” moment - maybe not even consciously, but it’s there, and so is the implicit acknowledgment that other people have got this joke too - and I think that’s why those of us who know it’s “think” don’t like it when others are determined to erase and distort the origins of it. You’re taking away part of something we feel connected to, a way we feel connected with other people.

Surely someone who loves and understands language enough to have an Oxbridge first in English lit should be open to and appreciate this concept?