Another Thing vs. Another Think

Hi, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Alan Kapischke from Fish Creek, Wisconsin.

Hi, Alan.

Hello, Alan. Welcome to the program.

Oh, thank you.

What would you like to talk with us about?

Well, last winter, my brother-in-law asked me to take a look at a play he was writing and to give him some feedback, and I offered to proofread it at the same time. Made some notes for him, but one correction I offered we disagreed on. And I can give you the quote.

Okay.

We had a terrific game yesterday, and I do not want to take that away from you, but if you think we were flawless, well, then you’ve got another thing coming. And I told him I thought it should be another think coming, and he kind of laughed at me and thought I was joking because he said he had always seen it and heard it as another thing coming.

What kind of play is this, Alan? Where does it take place? What’s the setting?

It’s about Vince Lombardi. It’s actually just playing on Broadway now.

It’s on Broadway now?

Oh, wow.

How about that?

Whoa.

Whoa.

So how are they saying it on Broadway?

Yeah.

Who won this debate?

Yeah.

Winning isn’t the only thing.

Or no.

Cut the line.

Oh, he cut the line.

The best writers know that when there’s a dispute, just write around it.

I guess.

Did he cut the line because of your disagreement about another think versus another thing?

No.

Oh, okay.

I see.

That didn’t play into it.

Okay. But the argument still festered.

So you’re calling to ask, should it be another thing coming or another think coming? T-H-I-N-G or T-H-I-N-K?

Right.

Okay. And you’re in the think camp.

Yeah. I mean, it seems to me that you’ve got another think coming is sort of a creative way of saying think again.

Mm—

But if it’s another thing coming, what is the thing?

Right.

And if it’s another thing, what’s the first thing?

Right.

Well, I can tell you, I grew up saying another thing coming my whole life, but that K and that C bump up against each other, and it’s pretty hard to tell.

Right.

That’s right.

And thing and think, even without a following word that begins with a K sound, still sound a lot alike.

Yeah.

So it’s an easy phonetic mistake to make.

Or a hearing mistake as well as a production mistake.

Right. But, Alan, your take on it is the original as far as I know.

Yeah, Alan, that is the source of it, the origin, the most common one. Probably the safest choice is to say another thing coming. But Martha joins the millions who say another thing coming with the exact same effect. They mean the same thing no matter which word you use.

Personally, I have always said another thing coming. I’ve always written another thing coming. And when I’m editing someone else’s work and they say another thing coming, I silently change it to another think coming. So, because think is just a better choice, really.

Although the problem with think, and maybe you’re on to this, is that a think as a noun doesn’t really work for a lot of people. That’s why they’re looking for another word that it might be.

Sure, you’ve nouned the verb there. Have a think, maybe, you know, another think.

What do you mean another think?

It doesn’t make sense, but I did like your logic about you’ve got one instance of thinking, and think is another instance of thinking, so you can’t have another one, whereas the thing, there’s no thing, there’s no first thing, so how can you have a second thing?

Right.

Well, Alan, before we go, tell us a little bit more about this play.

My brother-in-law is Eric Simonson, and he wrote it based on David Marinus’ book, When Pride Still Mattered.

Right, Dave Marinus from the Washington Post.

Right.

We used to play softball together, but he wouldn’t remember me.

Oh, wow.

And so it’s on Broadway.

What theater?

It’s at Circle on the Square.

Okay, very good.

And Dan Loria from The Wonder Years is playing Vince Lombardi.

Oh, really?

And Judith Light plays his wife, Marie.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, have we helped you, Alan?

I basically said that you were right with think, and Martha said that she thinks that thing is okay. So, you know how it is here on the radio show, two people, three opinions.

Well, I’m going to say that I won, and so I have something to lord over my Broadway playwright brother-in-law.

It’s hard to compete with people who are successful. They become so full of themselves, don’t they?

No.

Thank you so much for calling, Alan.

My pleasure. Thank you.

Take care. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Do you have another think coming about an argument you had with somebody about the best choice when speaking or writing? Call us 1-877-929-9673 or send email to words@waywordradio.org.