# I had another thing coming / another think coming



## Marlouze

Hi all,
could you please explain the meaning of the following sentence: "If I thought John would be upset at this news, *I had another thing coming*."
Context: a girl and a guy (they're a couple), are talking, and the girl said something to him that could have made him jealous and then the girl (who is also the narrator) gives the above comment.
Thanks for helping!!


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## Marlouze

sorry, actually, it's "I have another *think* coming"


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## Trisia

No, I *think  *you were right the first time.

I'm not sure what the expression means in this case, but I've heard it before. Might be that she was completely wrong when she assumed that John would be upset. Instead, he... I don't know, tried to strangle her ?


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## Marlouze

Actually, I saw that both "think" and "thing" are correct in the expression, "thing" being more recent than "think". So it means she assumed the wrong thing; got it. Thanks very much Trisia.


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## pieanne

J'étais complètement à côté de la plaque?


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## Trisia

Actually, I'd very much like to know how _think _could be used here

I've never in my life heard this expression.


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## samdebretagne

I have never heard "think" used with this expression either.


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## mgarizona

It's true. The original expression was "to have another thin*k* coming," meaning 'to be totally mistaken.

Akin to: "Think so? Think again!"

Gave way to 'thing' a long time ago, in AE at least. Not sure about other genres.


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## pieanne

So "j'étais complètement à côté de la plaque" fits well. (Ouf!  )


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## Trisia

Goes to show I'm too young for these discussions 

Thanks mgarizona for clarifying this. But I feel the original expression was not really grammatically correct, was it... I would imagine it would be "I had another thought coming"? Or does it simply mean I would get a reply like "Think again, buster"?

By the way, pieanne, I love the expression you found


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## pyan

The WordReference dictionary does not have "think" as a noun, but it exists. Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary says it is "UK, to consider something for some time."   "I had another think coming" means she was going to reflect deeply on something, consider it carefully. A "thought" can be transient, but a "good think" is memorable.

I found mgarizona's explanation of the change to "thing" in American English interesting.


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## Marlouze

Hello again, I wrote "Je croyais que James serait contrarié par cette nouvelle, mais je me trompai fort", in my translation. Do you agree?


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## pieanne

"Mais je me trompai fort" sounds a bit literary...

Another possibility could be "mais j'étais complètement à l'ouest"


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## Blootone

mgarizona said:


> It's true. The original expression was "to have another thin*k* coming," meaning 'to be totally mistaken.
> 
> Akin to: "Think so? Think again!"
> 
> Gave way to 'thing' a long time ago, in AE at least. Not sure about other genres.


 
Interesting - I had never before encountered the AE expression "another *thing* coming". I have to say that I don't see how it makes sense...

In British, Irish and NZ English, it is definitely still "another *think* coming".


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## edwingill

see here for another think coming:http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxyouhav.html


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## mgarizona

pyan said:


> The WordReference dictionary does not have "think" as a noun, but it exists. Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary says it is "UK, to consider something for some time." "I had another think coming" means she was going to reflect deeply on something, consider it carefully. A "thought" can be transient, but a "good think" is memorable.
> 
> I found mgarizona's explanation of the change to "thing" in American English interesting.


 
I'm sure it's the rareness of 'think' as a noun which lead people hearing "another think coming" to assume they were hearing "anothing thing coming." 

Unless one uses careful enunciation to separate the two K sounds one hears 'another thinkoming' which breaks down, to AE ears, more naturally to 'another thin' coming' than to 'another think coming' if one isn't used to hearing 'think' as a noun.


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## edwingill

to have another thin*k* coming is in my Oxford Concise Dic


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## nzseries1

Blootone said:


> In British, Irish and NZ English, it is definitely still "another *think* coming".


 
I disagree.  I grew up in New Zealand and never before had I heard "*think* coming" until now.  I always thought it was *thing *coming.


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## Bilbo53

The french subtitles in a movie went: "Je me faisais des illusions".
I think it could fit well in that context.


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## rosieg

I would agree with Blootone. People learning English very often write -ing instead of -ink ("I thing that...") but they are not the only ones. The -ing ending is so common even many native English speakers erroneously use it for -ink.

And yes its linked to the fact that it sounds the same when said quickly. Just like many native English speakers say and even write (especially children/young people) "I would of had/done" instead of "I would have had/done", because *"would've"* sounds identical to "*would of*" in spoken English.


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## englishman

edwingill said:


> to have another thin*k* coming is in my Oxford Concise Dic



Right. The BE expression is definitely "to have another think coming", but I managed to reach at least my teens before I discovered this. I had always said "another thing coming", and assumed everyone else did. Given that the pronunciation of the two are almost identical, it's not that surprising.


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## McButtons

"If I thought John would be upset at this news, *I had another thing coming*."

It means...I would be proven wrong/I was in for a surprise/I was fooling myself


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## nzseries1

McButtons said:


> "If I thought John would be upset at this news, *I had another thing coming*."
> 
> It means...I would be proven wrong/I was in for a surprise/I was fooling myself


 
That's correct McButtons, but have you read the whole thread about whether it is "thing" or "think"?


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## david314

pieanne said:


> *J'étais complètement à côté de la plaque*?


 


Bilbo53 said:


> "*Je me faisais des illusions*".


 
-So many posts, so little French. 

P.S.  Welcome to the forum, bilbo53!


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## Cath.S.

Pour garder l'idée de réflexion :
_j'allais devoir revoir toute ma façon de penser_


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## McButtons

Yes, I had - which is why I suggested "another *thing *coming". Personally I have never ever heard "I had another *think *coming" and if it were to appear in a British newspaper for example it would definitely raise an eyebrow.


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## orlando09

I'm English (and a newspaper reporter) - I agree that - IMO - this expression was originally "think", and no, it's not especially grammatical - it's a (somewhat old-fashioned sounding to me) slangy, working-class sort of expression. It means you were mistaken - you need to think again. It makes less sense with "thing", though I can see how people might have started saying "thing" by mis-hearing. After all, language changes, and idioms don't always make logical sense.

You can see how "think" looks right, because it is always used with "think"in the first part of the phrase -- eg. "If you think your dad is going to be pleased when he hears how badly you did in the exam, you've got another think coming, my lad" [ i.e. you'll be thinking differently about the situation later on]


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## calembourde

Very interesting, I always thought it was 'thing' (that's the only version I'd heard) but I guess I had another think coming.  However, there's already a very interesting thread on the think/thing question, so we can focus on the translation here.  Having said that, I don't have any suggestions.


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## orlando09

I can;t think of an idiomatic expression - for the original phrase I'd say something like : si je pensais qu'il allait se facher, et bien, je me trompais


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## orlando09

pyan said:


> The WordReference dictionary does not have "think" as a noun, but it exists. Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary says it is "UK, to consider something for some time." "I had another think coming" means she was going to reflect deeply on something, consider it carefully. A "thought" can be transient, but a "good think" is memorable.
> 
> I found mgarizona's explanation of the change to "thing" in American English interesting.


 
yes, actually, thinking about it, "think' is sometimes used as a noun in BE. e.g. "You're not sure you want to do it? OK, have a think about it and come back tomorrow"


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## Cath.S.

egueule said:


> Pour garder l'idée de réflexion :
> _j'allais devoir revoir toute ma façon de penser_


Could we focus on translation, please? 
What does anyone thing think of my suggestion?


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## orlando09

OK  Well, IMHO this looks best so far - *J'étais complètement à côté de la plaque *

Even though I'm not very familiar with this expression, it looks like it has the right kind of informal register about it, compared to "Je me faisais des illusions*/* _j'allais devoir revoir toute ma façon de penser_ or je me trompais fort/ which I would place in that order from slightly too formal, to rather archaic


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## pyan

Moderator note:  Now there is a link to an active English Only thread in Calembourde's post, please do not post any more discussions of the English terms in this thread. As Egueule says in another post above, let's concentrate on the translation. 

I have not put post numbers in the two posts mentioned as these will change if the thread is cleaned up for future research.


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## Auryn

orlando09 said:


> OK  Well, IMHO this looks best so far - *J'étais complètement à côté de la plaque *
> 
> Even though I'm not very familiar with this expression, it looks like it has the right kind of informal register about it, compared to "Je me faisais des illusions*/* _j'allais devoir revoir toute ma façon de penser_ or je me trompais fort/ which I would place in that order from slightly too formal, to rather archaic



I agree. *Je me mettais le doigt dans l'œil* is another possible translation.


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## Cath.S.

Auryn said:


> I agree. *Je me mettais le doigt dans l'œil* is another possible translation.


Hi Auryn, 
I also agree, your suggestion and Pieanne's are the best.
Mine didn't catch the right tone.


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## Auryn

egueule said:


> Hi Auryn,
> I also agree, your suggestion and Pieanne's are the best.
> Mine didn't catch the right tone.



Hello Egueule,

Yours is a bit too... polite, shall we say 

(La reine d'Angleterre au prince Charles: "Mon fils, si vous croyez que Camilla sera jamais reine, vous allez devoir revoir toute votre façon de penser!")


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## Cath.S.

Auryn said:


> Hello Egueule,
> 
> Yours is a bit too... polite, shall we say
> 
> (La reine d'Angleterre au prince Charles: "Mon fils, si vous croyez que Camilla sera jamais reine, vous allez devoir revoir toute votre façon de penser!")


 
LOL. I didn't think it sounded so uptight. I would say it, and  could summon witnesses who'd swear I'm not uptight. 
Only kidding of course, I perfectly get your point.


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## Nicomon

Whether it's thin*k* or thin*g*... I wouldn't translate it the same way.

I always thought that it was thin*g* and understood it like elaineg in this post from the English thread. Or as McButtons posted earlier, _I was in for a surprise. _

In which case, my translation would have been something in the lines of (but it's getting late)
_Tu ne sais pas ce qui t'attend / attend un peu de voir ce qui t'attend_
_J'allais avoir tout un choc_

With *think* - which I'm now (almost) convinced that is right, my vote goes to Pieanne's _j'étais complètement à côté de la plaque_ ou à la québécoise..._ j'étais carrément à côté de la traque _


> _Canada (Québec)Être à côté de la traque (dérivé de l'anglais 'track')source ici_


 
I also like Auryn's_ je me mettais le doigt dans l'oeil._ 

my last effort:
_J'allais bientôt être ramenée sur terre / être détrompée_


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## Nicomon

verbivore said:


> The idiom is "to have another thing coming", just as the headline reads. It means to have something coming to you completely opposite from what you expected. She expected the guy to be jealous and he wasn't. The idiom is used in other contexts as well but with the same idea.


 
And your suggestion for a translation is...? 

I just thought of another one which might fit... although not as colloquial :   _Je me trompais royalement_


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## Agnès E.

k
I think that nothing constructive can be added to the thread as to the meaning, the spelling (<sigh>) or the translation of this phrase (see pieanne's posts #5 and 13, bilbo's one #19, Auryn's one #34 and Nicomon's one #39). 

Thank you all for your contributions! I hope you had fun participating in this discussion. 

Nevertheless, this thread is now closed.

Agnès
Moderator


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