Because Arguing on Fanficrants Is a Waste of Time - a Poll

[lil_shepherd]

Over on fanficrants an argument is raging over the use of the phrase, "another think coming," as in "If he thought that, he had another think coming." Apparently, a large number of people have always believed and used "another thing coming" even if the first part of the phrase is retained.

So, a poll:

Poll Think or thing

Comments

[lil_shepherd]

It's very colloquial and no longer widely used. I can't remember where I heard or read it first, but I am pretty sure it originated in the States, and I've seen/heard it used most in hard-boiled detective.

[oreouk]

I use it in ranting, usually verbally. But then I spent 4 formative years in the States, so maybe I was corrupted young...

[lil_shepherd]

Shiv thinks it's UK English. madfilkentist is, of course, from Boston, where the language still has close links to UK English. I read an awful lot of American fiction, particularly in my teens. The only reference that turns up on the collected Oxford Dictionary reference site, apart from the OED is, would you believe, Anne McCaffery

970 A. McCaffrey Ship Who Sang (1991) 108 "If you think I'm going to travel free-fall all the way to Regulus, you've another think coming."

Which is in something called "A Dictionary of Science Fiction". This does not help at all with the place problem, does it?

[lil_shepherd]

I'm not getting any vibes from the poll replies here, save that if you work in a technical area (science academia, IT) you may be slightly more likely to say "thing" and if you are a writer or an arts side academic you are more likely to say "think."

What I'm looking for is the location where the phrase originated, hopefully an actual quote, and, as it is certainly early 20th Century, if not earlier, current usage probably won't help much.

[lil_shepherd]

I'm a little wary as that site is strongly American biased. However, as my instinct was that it was originally American, the quotes from Syracuse, NY, are useful from my point of view.

[carl_allery]

Just a brief search shows the usage as a noun in my Fowler's Modern English Usage (2nd Edition, 1965) - 'you'd better have another think' and describes it as colloquial or dialect and over 100 yrs old according to the OED. Yes, I know - not a first-hand source, but clearly relevant enough at the time for a definitive UK English usage text. No reference to 'thing' in the same section and no mention of US origin although the usage directly beforehand does.

Can't find it in my Fowler's Kings English which is structured in an entirely different way. :(

[starcat_jewel]

It might very well be a Southernism. I know I picked it up from my mother, who was raised in the Deep South. And while it's not exactly common in my circle of acquaintances, I believe it's pretty universally understood.