You've Got Another Think Coming!
by Tina Blue
November 24, 004
A popular expression that I keep seeing misused, even by those who write for a living, is the one that goes, "If you think this, that, or the other, then you've got another think coming."The common misuse of this expression goes thus: "If you think this, that, or the other, then you've got another thing coming."For example, I recently ran across this statement in an article by well-known author Nicholas von Hoffman, of the The New York Observer: "If the leaders of the Democratic Party hope that they can fool the holy people by buying themselves white leatherette-bound Bibles and pink plastic Jesuses and turning up to give testimony at church, they've got another thing coming."Von Hoffman used to be a columnist at The Washington Post. He now writes a regular column for the The New York Observer. In other words, he is a heavy hitter, not some insignificant little blogger that no one has ever heard of. Besides being a long-time professional writer, he writes for papers that are supposed to actually have editors. Politically von Hoffman and I have much in common. But I just don't like to see the language mangled by pros, even when I agree with their sentiments.Folks, I don't care which side of the political divide you are writing from. Whichever it is, please at least get the words straight. If you think it doesn't matter whether you speak or write like someone who actually knows how to use the language--well, then, all I can say is you've got another think coming!
