Another think coming
5 Mar 2007 03:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cimoreneListen, 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? [*]
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? [*]
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(no subject)
Date: 5 Mar 2007 02:45 pm (UTC)I'm a bit torn since I tend to go with the belief that you can't stop language from changing and the job of grammar and dictionaries is to describe, not dictate, and so on. I don't insist on "whom" all the time, for instance. But dammit, when you're talking about a significant difference that contains a change (or loss!) in meaning, I'm going to cling to the meaningful variant even in a losing battle. (It'd have to be losing a lot more severely than 60/40 before I gave up, too!)