A thing is a thing

Names, naming and words by LoisAugust 14, 2017

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a new way of using ‘a thing’ has crept into the language. It seems to have started about ten or so years ago as far as I can find out, but maybe it had an underground or street use before that.

Now everyone knows what a thing is – a thing is a thing you don’t want to give a name to or can’t give a name to because you don’t know what it is/have forgotten what it is. Thing was originally þing meaning a meeting or council – and it is still used in Iceland in the name of the parliament, the Alþingi . Gradually that meaning changed and it became used for an object.

Here is a link to what one of my favourite sites, Online Etymology has to say:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=thing

However, this new subtle change in meaning is different…. If you think of the question ‘Is there such a thing as Choo-Choo whisky?’ and then think of another way of saying it ‘Is Choo-Choo whisky even a thing?’ that just about explains it. However, when I’ve heard people using it in everyday conversation (and when I say people, I mean young people) it can be used in a joking way, a comical way.

So obviously using a thing as a thing – well, it’s a thing! Oh, and by the way, Choo-Choo Whisky isn’t a thing.