Confuzzling things

[janne_d]

1) Anyone else getting comments lately that are just a link to youtube? I've had 2 and I'm curious (though not curious enough to click the link).

2) Why are people writing "uh" (denoting hesitation in speech) as "ugh" all of a sudden? It's very distracting and keeps making me think all the characters have turned into grunting cavepeople. I don't think that is what the writers are actually trying to portray.

3) I am right in thinking the phrase is "if that's what you think, you've got another think coming", amn't I? I've seen it so many times as "you've got another thing coming" I'm starting to doubt... (The first one makes sense! The second one doesn't!)

Comments

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Definitely "think". Minor pet peeve. ;)

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank God for that - I was really starting to think I was the weird one! I can't remember the last time I saw someone use it correctly in a fic and it makes me peevish too.

Though the best mistake I saw lately was someone using noxious when they meant innocuous, which caused me quite a brain hiccup until I caught on!

[melodyunity.livejournal.com]

Disagree, disagree, disagree. I've seen it both ways, and I know the original phrase was "another think coming" -- I think "another thing coming" started as a mispronunciation of the original phrase -- but language changes. The more commonly used of the two is "another thing coming". I've read it both ways, but I've never actually heard anyone say "another think coming". It just sounds so wrong to me.

So, anyway, I chalk the "thing/think" thing up to personal taste.

Writing "ugh" when you mean "uh" is just weird, though. People really do that? Why?

[melodyunity.livejournal.com]

Language Log did a couple of articles on the thing/think issue...so maybe I have heard people say "another think" and just didn't realize it. Interesting.

Here are the articles: Another Thing Coming (http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004971.html) and Another Thing Coming About Another Think Coming (http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=120).

Edited to correct a typo.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

And I have no idea why people are writing ugh but they do. In dialogue like: "Ugh, are you okay?" which makes me think the other character is called Ugh and we are now in a prehistoric AU! Clearly we need standardised spelling of meaningless syllables to avoid hurting my poor head.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Huh, that's interesting. I've never heard anyone say "another thing coming"! And the only times I've seen it written as "thing" have been in fanfic, so I've always assumed it's another common homonym error. Maybe it's a regional variation? The pronounciation article lost me a little, but it would certainly be one of that sounds that would be easily elided by different accents.

I still think that the phrase that actually makes sense is "another think coming" because it is repetition of and reply to the first section, while changing the word to "thing" just makes it nonsensical. Though I freely admit the English language is not well known for its logic!

[emeraldsword.livejournal.com]

I agree. It's always used in the context of changing one's mind - i.e. thinking one thing and then thinking another. "If you think X then you have another think coming" completely makes sense, but thing doesn't. Just because people have been using it nonsensically since 1919 doesn't mean it's not wrong! Though it possibly means I should stop correcting them in my feedback...

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I don't think I've ever mentioned it in feedback to anyone, but I probably wouldn't now. Guess we can't stop language changing on us, even if it doesn't make sense :-)

[trobadora]

Completely with you on all three!

I think the youtube links are just spam. Delete 'em.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured spam but it just seemed so weird. Why would anyone bother?

The "ugh" one is really starting to get to me - it makes me stumble reading it every time.

I saw the best example of someone using a word that's just wrong because it sounds similar the other day though - they'd used noxious when they meant innocuous. I had a real "wait, what?" moment reading that.

[whit-merule.livejournal.com]

Delete them and report as spam - they've been leaving lots of them.

And definitely 'another think'. Like you say, makes no sense otherwise. :) And fandom is too prone to using and legitimising homonyms by repetition - one of my pet peeves is all the idioms that involve 'rein' (as of a horse) being changed to 'reign': to give free rein to, to rein in an impulse, to keep a tight rein on. That one is, I think, cultural shift, as horse metaphors don't sound so intuitive anymore so we don't see them as actually involving a horse; but honestly, if you mean 'reign', rewrite the damn idiom so it makes sense in the context of your new metaphor!

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Ah, I shall track them down and report them then - glad I'm not the only one who has seen it.

From the articles melodyunity posted, the think/thing switch isn't just a fandom issue. They are both in the OED with "thing" in the phrase cited back in 1919 - which doesn't mean it makes sense or that it didn't start as a homonym thing, but it seems we can't call it a mistake now.

I don't think I've ever noticed the rein/reign one, but now that you've mentioned it I'll probably see it in the next 5 fics I read!

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

And I've remembered the one that drives me up the wall - discrete when they mean discreet. Definitely my pet peeve.

[trobadora]

they'd used noxious when they meant innocuous

Wow, I'm not sure I'd have guessed that ...

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Well, it took me a minute! But I knew from the context that they couldn't possibly mean noxious.

I saw a "debouched" when someone meant "debauched" today, which isn't even a homonym - I knew debouched was a word but I couldn't have told you what it meant (apparently it means moved from a narrow place to a wider one). But the one that really drives me up the wall is discrete when they mean discreet. Gah.