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Chris -- 2018-04-11
This one has been driving me crazy for years. I have encountered it in mass media from sources as diverse as the 80’s metal band the Scorpions, and Bill Cosby, a champion of education whom I would expect, ummm, to know a proper English phrase, ya see.
So why do I consider users of the former to be misinformed, if not (ummm) pudding-brained? I hope it is not merely because I was brought up saying the latter. Goodness knows I’ve been wrong on at least several occasions. Even so, I strongly believe that the explanation makes so much sense.
“If you think you are going out to the movies dressed like that,” my mother might sweetly yell at my sister, “you’ve got another think coming!” One think (a wrong one)... leading to another think (bingo)!
Said the other way, it means what? Another THING? Is that like The Thing from Another World? That ugly guy from the Fantastic Four? Thing One and Thing Two? I cannot buy that, Sam I Am.
So what do you think? Can someone tell me which usage came first? Does logic make right… or am I the diluted one? (Kidding, kidding! :D}
“If you’re not part of the solution,
you’re part of the precipitate.”
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Welcome, dddrum!
This one has been discussed a couple of times at great length:
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=528
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=1707
The second thread is the more extensive one.
Last edited by JonW719 (2008-09-30 11:04:45)
Feeling quite combobulated.
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Thank you, Jon, for the warm welcome and the helpful redirect. (And thanks also to Mayor Johnson, for the laurel and hearty handshake.)
I fully expected this to be a hotly contested eggcorn, but when I could not find it, I decided to float it myself and see if there was a nibble.
I have the feeling this ought to be a really, really fun forum. (Truth be toad.)
“If you’re not part of the solution,
you’re part of the precipitate.”
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Our search engines are tricky to navigate. There is one for the eggcorn forum and one for the database, if I’m not mistaken, so it’s easy to miss previous threads.
This one (think vs. thing) is pretty hotly contested, and it seems to come down to preferences based on what each side of the debate grew up on. (If you read the other threads, you’ll see that I came down on the side of “think” being correct.)
The forum is great fun. There is a lot of lively debate here and some very intelligent discussion (let’s just say that it is rare that I don’t learn something new about linguistics when I log on here). So jump in, participate, and enjoy!
Last edited by JonW719 (2008-09-30 13:06:49)
Feeling quite combobulated.
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