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

[NotMyRealName2015]

I’ll clarify

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.
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.'

Uhm no ManaFleet, it really isn't.

ManaFleet: Come back when you've read this:

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

It's 'thing' - sorry.

No. We're sorry.

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

It's 'think'.

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

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

Astounded by the dogmatism.

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

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

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!

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?

Oh lord I hope it isn't!

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

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 She's 20 now and at university in England - I must asked her what her phrase of choice is nowadays

WHY do I keep checking the MN facebook page?

'Thing, cos I'm not an idiot.'

I am biting my own arm off at the wrong-headedness of the unrepentant things.

I've always said 'you've got another think coming" - I won't be changing it.

Sounds better anyway.

Ok, let's cut to the chase.

IF YOU SAY "THING" IT IS LIKELY THAT OUT OF POLITENESS NO ONE WILL CORRECT YOU.

BUT THEY WILL JUDGE YOU AND FIND YOU WANTING.

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

Eh? While I accept that intelligent people should be able to appreciate the evidence is in favour of think and adopt that, you can't just assert that there aren't ANY intelligent people who are unaware (or don't care) and use "thing". I was one such intelligent person (I mean, I'm still intelligent, but I used to say thing). The language log link I posted earlier shows how thing has been used for example in the NY Times, which I believe has a reputation for strong copy editing and presumably an educated readership, some of whom have accepted it.

HullyGully - unlikely, because in spoken English, "thing" will run into "coming" and they will probably just hear the version they think is right.

One thing (!) I'd like to pick on is the real sense of rage (eg Dumdedum) that some people feel at those who stubbornly stick with "thing". Honestly, it's not the end of the world!

"Thing coming" is widespread even among educated speakers. I like the quirkiness and messiness of that. If I hear someone say "thing" I won't judge them, but smile and enjoy the way eggcorning happens. It doesn't affect me and I have no problem understanding what they are trying to say.

People said can't be asked when I was at school, but they were just wrong This was Midlands in the 2000s.

I rarely make errors of this type, presumably I make some, but the ones I'm aware of, I always seem to wind up on the side which is considered more correct. I think it's because I read so much when I was a child, so by the time I actually paid attention to any idioms in order to use them myself I'd already seen them in print rather than only hearing them.

"Thing" kind of makes sense but I don't think I'd refer to a slap or whatever other punishment it refers to (because that's the inferred meaning of thing, right?) as "a (nother) thing". "Something", but not "a thing". Therefore "a think" makes more sense.

dream on, daddaddad

They hear, and they judge.

And the rage comes from people's pigheaded refusal to accept they have been wrong, or their ridiculous efforts to contort language to fit their error.

Well, we can't really tell who is right on the hearing point without doing some experiments. We'd need a variety of people to use it in normal emotive speech (not carefully enunciating THINK or THING) and get others to write down what they heard. I'd hypothesise that many would write what they expected to hear not what the speaker chose to say, but it is just a hypothesis for now!

@hackmum

Why?

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

LatinForTelly

I expect that only you and I are in the slightest bit bothered about the pernicious use of 'for free' Even Mumsnet uses it ...

I am intrigued now, what do you mean about 'for free'? I don't know what phrase you mean.

To me 'for free' means 'for no cost', e.g. 'Ocado gave me a lovely bottle of wine for free to celebrate my anniversary of shopping with them.'

(deliberately mumsnetty example)