"another thing coming"

Sat May 31 01:33:15 UTC 2008

If you are actually asserting that the vowels of "thing" and "seen"
are the same and that this is the general US pronunciation, one of
your statements is factually wrong.

Herb

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 7:40 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "another thing coming"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> It's ~nuthhin but it's ~thheeng as pronounced in US as spelled in truespel.=
>  Where ~thh is the unvoiced "th".  Ricky Ricardo is being mislead by prese=
> nt phonetics into thinking that the "i" in "thing" is short.  It's really ~=
> ee (long e).Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+See truespel.com - an=
> d the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at authorhouse.com. > Date: =
> Wed, 28 May 2008 15:36:37 -0400> From: laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> Subject: Re:=
>  "another thing coming"> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> > --------------------=
> -- Information from the mail header -----------------------> Sender: Americ=
> an Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>> Poster: Laurence Horn <laurenc=
> e.horn at YALE.EDU>> Subject: Re: "another thing coming"> --------------------=
> -----------------------------------------------------------> > At 11:03 AM =
> -0700 5/28/08, Brenda Lester wrote:> >FWIW: Remember Ricky Ricardo (Desi=3D=
> 20> >Arnez) (I LOVE LUCY)  used to say=3D20> >"thin" for thing?&n=
> bsp; We southerners say=3D20> >"nothin'."> > > >bl> > > >> > > Bu=
> t when? Do you say "That's another thin"? For=3D20> me (admittedly a non-so=
> utherner), there's a big=3D20> difference between "nothing" (which can be=
> =3D20> [n^TIn] or [n^?n]) and "(another) thing" (which=3D20> can never be [=
> TIn], only [TIN]). ("Another thin"=3D20> can only be a request for a mint o=
> r some such.)> Is it different for (some) southerners?=3D20> (Non-native sp=
> eakers like Desi are another=3D20> thin(g) completely.)> > LH> > > > >--- O=
> n Wed, 5/28/08, LanDi Liu <strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM> wrote:> >> >From=
> : LanDi Liu <strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM>> >Subject: Re: "another thing =
> coming"> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> >Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 1:14 =
> AM> >> >---------------------- Information from the mail=3D20> >header ----=
> -------------------> >Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.U=
> GA.EDU>> >Poster: LanDi Liu <strangeguitars at GMAIL.COM>> >Subject: =
> Re: "another thing coming"> >----------------------------------------------=
> -----------------------------=3D> ----> >> >FWIW, I have heard some young s=
> peakers from Utah pronounce "ng" as> >[=3DA9=3DD8g] (or [=3DA9=3DD8g?], and=
>  they were even aware of it and took it to be> >"correct".> >> >Randy> >> >=
> On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 1:18 AM, Mark Mandel <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote=
> =3D> :> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail header> >---=
> --------------------> >> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LIST=
> SERV.UGA.EDU>> >> Poster: Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>> >>=
>  Subject: Re: "another thing coming"> >>> >-----------------------------=
> ----------------------------------------------=3D> ----> >>> >> On Tu=
> e, May 27, 2008 at 12:39 PM, <ROSESKES at aol.com> wrote:> >>> I d=
> id what you said, and understand what you meant. However, when=3D> I> >say>=
>  >>> "think coming" and "thing coming", they always> >sound different=
>  to me. I can> >>> imagine perhaps once hearing "thing coming" and th=
> inking> >I'm hearing "think> >>> coming," but not repeatedly thru'out=
>  my entire life.> >It's a common> >>> expression around here, and was=
>  even more so while I was growing u=3D> p.> >I'm> >>> positive that w=
> hat people around me have always said is,> >"You've got another> >>> =
> think coming." Things may have been different in 1919; or (which> >I think =
> is> >>> more likely) the newspaper may have gotten it wrong.> >>> =
>>> I agree, they are distinguishable. I slipped up and didn't say for yo=
> u> >> in layman's language what I said to Larry in technical terms. In> =
>>> "think coming" the first syllable is shorter, and there's a> >longer>=
>  >> period of silence or near-silence before the beginning of the vowel =
> in> >> "com-". But the distinction is fairly subtle and may get lost in>=
>  >> hurried speech or noisy environments or other less-than-ideal> >>=
>  conditions, with the result that the grammatically unusual "another> >>=
>  think coming" is heard as the grammatically ordinary "another> >thing> >&g=
> t; coming". That is presumably how the "thing coming" version> >got> >> =
> started: with the speaker meaning and saying "think coming", and> >the> >&g=
> t; hearer hearing it as "thing coming".> >>> >> Regards,> >> m a m=
>> >>> >> ------------------------------------------------------------=
>> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org> >&gt=
> ;> >> >> >> >--> >Randy Alexander> >Jilin City, China> >My Manchu studies b=
> log:> >http://www.bjshengr.com/manchu> >> >--------------------------------=
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