Another think coming

[cimorene]

Listen, people.

It's not "If you think ___, you've got another thing coming". It's "If you think __, you've got another think coming." Get it? See how that works? The word "think" appears in both places! As if to suggest that the approaching think is going to replace the previous think which was in error! See how it even (gasp!) makes sense that way, whereas a "thing" coming in that context is so meaningless as to be completely baffling? [*]

Comments

[cimness.livejournal.com]

I take your point about vowel clipping and pronunciation, but I think it's possible that the special rhythm that's given to the phrase when you say the whole thing - especially if it's embedded in other speech and could be speeded up - could make that confusion possible again. The phrase sort of takes a poetry/chanting kind of rhythm when you say it. I'm sure it's often pronounced like "thing" by the speakers I'm familiar with, but I'm not convinced that means it is. I know some of those speakers would describe it as "think". And the polls mentioned in that link above and the others I found with Google seem to indicate a near-even split of opinion in the American samples as well.