does anyone really know whether its another thinK or thinG you have coming?

Question

as in the phrase if you think..... you have another think/thing coming

i thought this might happen lol just as many people saying think as thing and everyone seems really sure!! who do i believe??

Answer 1

Google returns 74,000 results for "Another think coming" and 193,000 results for "Another thing coming"

Answer 2

Another 'think' coming is rubbish, and if you say it like that, you need a catchup lesson in English. I mean, have you ever listened to yourself say it? It doesn't make sense with the word 'think'. It's another THING coming, I couldn't believe there was actually a topic for this!

Think again makes sense, and is a different saying, but I can say, most definitely that the phrase is 'If you think you're doing (insert thing they're not allowed to do), you have another THING coming'

Answer 3

Thanks for this question! I was positive that it was thinG, but after checking it out, it seems thinK is correct (correct as far as being the way it was originally said; correct English would be thinG). See below references for my conclusion.

Despite the evidence that thinK was the original version, thinG has become a well-used, shall we say, perversion. It's the title of a song as well (do an online search for the phrase "you've got another thing coming and you'll find it). Whichever you use, everyone will know you mean, "If you think ----, you're in for a surprise!"

Answer 4

it would be thing, because to have "it" coming, whatever "it" was would have to be a noun. think is a verb, so you can't have a verb coming.

ps. believe me, and if you don't, test out my theory, insert various nouns and verbs in the second blank and while the nouns will make silly sentences, they'll make sense....none of the verbs will.

if you think ________, then you have another_________coming.

if you think that, then you have another "thought" coming.
if you think that, then you have another dog coming
if you think that, then you have another shoe coming

if you thing that, then you have another jog coming
if you think that, then you have another swim coming
if you think that, then you have another think coming.

looking at sentence structure, the word 'coming' is going to modify the word directly before it, and as a verb is already and action you don't modify it with another verb, which coming is (I'm coming!! subject = I, verb = coming). if you want to modify a verb you use an adverb (she's coming quickly. subject = she, verb = coming, adverb = quickly (aka how she is doing something)
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okay, i've just been reading the other answers, which i don't usually do before i post my own....and being my normal stick in the mud self, i hadn't considered colloquialism. what i said above is true, grammatically (though in hindsight, shoes can't come) but if someone is making a point, or being cute, they could misuse the word 'think' as a noun, and get their point across quite nicely. I was operating on the two blank theory, "if you think ___________, then you've got another _________coming.
but if you don't do the first blank, it can go like this-
read following with annoyed parent voice:
"Is that what you think!? Well, missy, you have another think coming!"

thanks for the question, i've had fun with it.

Answer 5

In my college English class we discussed this and other commonly used phrases. This particular phrase is a pun or play on words. It is "If you THINK ____ _____ _______ ______ you have another THINK coming." It has the same meaning as the similar phrase, "If you think _____ ________ _________ ____, you'd better think again." For example, if a parent said, "If you think you are leaving this house dressed that way, you have another think coming," they would be suggesting there was a lack of thought, therefore, the correct word is think.

Answer 6

I don't think that it has to be one or the other--it depends on the circumstances. Sometimes "you have another think coming" because you have to rethink what it was that you were planning to do. Sometimes it is "another thing coming" because if you do what you suggested, something else will happen to you--such as going behind the barn with dad and the switch. So it depends on what you mean when you say it.

Answer 7

the word is "think", the whole expression, filling in for your dots, would be something like: "If you think you've thought of all the options, you've got another think coming" A slightly better (more grammatically correct) way to say "another think coming" would be something like: "another thought to think" or "another option to think about that you haven't thought of yet", but that loses the "poetic" flow of "another think coming".

Answer 8

If I am understanding this correctly....
"If you THINK you have another THING coming" would be the proper way to say that.

Hope I helped!

Answer 9

"Think" has it.

I heard my father use this phrase as far back as 1950 and he was a teacher of English. I have used it on and off all my life.

I checked it for you though and a good reference (found by others also in this thread)

is

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/thing.html

Answer 10

THING. I wonder why you are confused. Does 'another think coming' even make sense? Another think? It isn't even grammatically correct. Think it through and it isn't so difficult.