It confused me SO MUCH the first time I heard it because I didn't know if it was i. a mistake, like 'If you think that you've got another thing coming', which falls into common use because it sounds OK; ii. a perfectly acceptable variant based on regional usage, or; iii. a cheerfully ironic use of the phrase in the way people sometimes say 'cheap at half the price' meaning much too expensive rather than getting cheap at twice the price backwards.
And I am easily confused, due to having too many Englishes in my head at the best of times!
We've all got weird local things, though. Australians run words together in different ways than I'm used to, and I still have SE English constructions that make people look at me blankly. I told Mr B "You go through these lights and take the following left" and he not only missed it but ranted, '"What's a following left? Why would it be following me? If it's following, how can it be coming up?!" I should add that he is a giant bumhead sometimes.
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i. a mistake, like 'If you think that you've got another thing coming', which falls into common use because it sounds OK;
ii. a perfectly acceptable variant based on regional usage, or;
iii. a cheerfully ironic use of the phrase in the way people sometimes say 'cheap at half the price' meaning much too expensive rather than getting cheap at twice the price backwards.
And I am easily confused, due to having too many Englishes in my head at the best of times!
We've all got weird local things, though. Australians run words together in different ways than I'm used to, and I still have SE English constructions that make people look at me blankly. I told Mr B "You go through these lights and take the following left" and he not only missed it but ranted, '"What's a following left? Why would it be following me? If it's following, how can it be coming up?!" I should add that he is a giant bumhead sometimes.