Month: January 2025

And another think

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An article from the New Statesman today included the passage:

If Rachel Reeves imagined her repeated insistence that Labour's "iron-clad" commitment to sound public finances would spare her the fate of Stafford Cripps, Jim Callaghan and Denis Healey, she had another thing coming.

I stopped reading after “she had another thing coming”. What was coming? A promotion? A cup of coffee? Surely what was meant was that her rumination would require further thought – she had another think coming. The Ngram view (for what that is worth) shows the ‘thing’ form taking off from around 2000 and becoming the more usual form today.

A chart showing the increase in usage of thing over think

It is a curious phrasing. The folksy etymology is often attributed to American usage but one suspects that anyone who thinks that has another think coming.

Housey-housey

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I am puzzled by the terms ‘social housing’ and ‘affordable housing’ which are increasingly used as shorthand to refer to, I assume, housing which is neither anti-social nor unaffordable. And don’t get me started on the ‘cost of living’ nonsense.

A New Statesman article refers to a survey (pdf) which addressed the stigma attached to living in such housing. Unlike the drug crazed criminals presented in TV dramas it is (surprise!) mostly occupied by regular people doing, or having retired from, a regular job. All positively contributing to ‘the economy’ (whatever that is).

After a lifetime of avoiding the collective criminality that is ‘private property’ I look forward to the day when all housing is declared ‘social housing’ and ‘affordable housing’.