Eggcorn Forum

Discussions about eggcorns and related topics

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to if you wish to register.

The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.

Thanks for your understanding.

Chris -- 2018-04-11

#1 2006-04-07 13:13:04

rachelm
Member
Registered: 2006-04-07
Posts: 1

Judas Priest aside . . .

If you think __, you’ve got another thing coming.
(Think)

Offline

 

#2 2006-05-11 22:17:36

Rick Aster
Member
Registered: 2006-05-11
Posts: 16

Re: Judas Priest aside . . .

I’m not aware of “think” being used as a noun in this sense. A “think” is a period of solitary contemplation, but not an idea or a sudden opinion.

Offline

 

#3 2006-05-12 10:28:36

Rick Aster
Member
Registered: 2006-05-11
Posts: 16

Re: Judas Priest aside . . .

“Another thing coming” is commonly used without any reference to “think” and “if”. This idiom indicates a surprise or sometimes retribution. It seems to me that this is what Judas Priest is saying. “Comin’ for you” doesn’t quite fit the “another think coming” idiom. I haven’t yet heard anyone explain how “another think coming” could have come to mean a nasty surprise, as “another thing coming” is most commonly used to mean.
I’m told that “another think coming” derived from “another guess coming” (meaning “guess again”) and I can believe this. It’s easy to imagine how “another guess coming” might have turned into “another think coming”—especially if influenced by “another thing.”
To sort this out, I need to have a semantic question answered. When people say “If you think this, you’ve got another thing coming,” how often does it mean, “You may face surprising or unpleasant consequences because of your confused point of view”, and how often does it mean, “You are going to have a sudden change of opinion”? If the former meaning is common, it is nothing more consequential than a mixed idiom; and in that case, the latter could just be a confusion between two idioms.

Last edited by Rick Aster (2006-05-12 12:03:43)

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
PunBB is © 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson
Individual posters retain the copyright to their posts.

RSS feeds: active topicsall new posts