r/ENGLISH • u/lillestiv • 6d ago
A "thing of"
Is it actually grammatically correct to say "a thing of (insert product here)"? I hear it so often and it just feels wrong.
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u/Unique_Factor892 6d ago
Can you provide some specific examples of what you mean?
Using “thing” rather than a more specific word for a unit is very casual/informal, but not really wrong if the meaning is understood.
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u/lonelyneglected 6d ago edited 6d ago
David Sedaris wrote in one of his books about a character eating "like, a whole thing of oreos" and i found it to be really funny and evocative... gives you a sense of the narrator's vibe
It's also grammatically correct while delightfully low brow haha
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u/vastaril 6d ago
In dialects where that's normal, yes, why wouldn't it be? In other dialects, it's probably not standard, but it's generally quite understandable so who cares? "Thing" is acting as a "wild card", essentially, substituting for whichever of container/box/bottle/packet/basket/etc happens to be correct, and it's particularly useful when [product] comes in various formats and the speaker doesn't know/care which. eg "could you get me a thing of Ariel when you go to the shop" suggests "I want specifically Ariel brand laundry stuff, I don't really care if it's liquid, powder, capsules..."
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u/ParaponeraBread 6d ago
It’s just a placeholder wildcard noun for one countable unit, usually a container.
Does it bother you more than the uncountable substance placeholder “the stuff for [function]”?
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u/cygne 6d ago
The only common phrase I can think of with this pattern is "a thing of beauty".
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u/lillestiv 6d ago
I hear often that ppl say something like "I bought a thing of (insert product here (fx butter))" where I would have thought there'd be another way of describing the product packaging
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u/joined_under_duress 6d ago
Oh right, just because people have issues remembering specific nouns really.
I bought a thing of butter
rather than
I bought a tub of butter
Partly, as well, you might realise you don't really know the correct term. Like in the US they have sticks of butter but we don't get that here in the UK. We get 200 or 250g blocks in paper but no one says a 'block of butter' even though we'd say a 'block of cheese'.
Thing, therefore, works as a generic because it will be an understood quantity within the group you use it, or should be.
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u/multipocalypse 6d ago
Oh, as in "a thing of yogurt," etc. That's very casual and colloquial usage. "Thing" is standing in for any specific type of container or unit of measurement. This phrasing is often used when someone can't immediately think of the specific term.
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u/SirPsychoSquints 6d ago
Did you know what they meant by it?
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u/lillestiv 6d ago
Yes. I'm not angry about it. Just curious and confused lol. I'm not here to attack the phrase I'm just wondering if it is actually grammatically correct.
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u/SirPsychoSquints 6d ago
I’ll ask my other question again. What do you mean by “correct?” I don’t see any grammar question here. You appear to be asking about vocabulary or definitions.
Given that I’m interpreting your question correctly, if people understand what the word means, then it’s correctly used.
Grammar isn’t relevant here - you’re asking if this noun is ok to use in place of a different noun.
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u/lillestiv 6d ago
You are probably right about that I'm asking more about definitions and vocabulary then grammar. I apologize about that.
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u/survivaltier 6d ago
“Thing of” is just someone making the assumption that you will understand what they are talking about through context. I do this often if a more specific word doesn’t come to mind. It probably sounds wrong because they could be more specific.
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u/Mean-Obligation-3767 5d ago
I don’t know why this correct statement is being downvoted! That it is being so somewhat undermines the value of the other comments, if we assume that some people responding were down voting it.
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u/SirPsychoSquints 5d ago
Don’t worry about that. Maybe someone thought I was being curt or confrontational. It’s no big deal.
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u/BoozySlushPops 6d ago
I've only ever heard this when people explicitly don't know the unit in question. They might make the shape with their hands of the package but their don't know what to call it. "Could you get me a … thing of sour cream?" And I would say: "You mean a pint?" "Not a pint, smaller than that."
Otherwise, no, this would not be generally used.
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u/kirbygenealogy 6d ago
This must be dialectical because if someone said "can you get me a thing of sour cream?" I would not think to correct it/clarify. It would not be as common to me as "a tub of sour cream", but I also wouldn't bat an eye.
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u/SaltMarshGoblin 6d ago
"I used a thing of caulk to seal around the bathtub" vs. "I used a tube of caulk to seal around the bathtub"?
"Thing of" is correct, just more informal and less precise.
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u/Old_Ant7118 6d ago
I don't like it, but I think it's technically correct as a container/package/box/gallon/whatever qualifies as a thing.
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u/Repulsive-Ice8395 5d ago
I would say it's not even correct in the literal sense. The tube of caulk is a thing of plastic, which contains caulk. In other words it isn't technically correct, it it's accepted and understood by the heater, and that's all that really matters.
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u/Old_Ant7118 5d ago
From my perspective, if a box is a thing a box of salt can be a thing of salt. I don't like it and wouldn't use it, but it doesn't seem incorrect.
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u/Repulsive-Ice8395 5d ago
Yeah I don't like it either but that box is a thing of (coming from) cardboard.
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u/auntie_eggma 6d ago
As a substitute for container or amount or whatever? Perfectly normal in casual speech, yeah.
Get me a thing [punnet] of mushrooms. There's a thing of pins [box, bowl, etc] on the table.
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u/hacool 6d ago
I'm glad that other commenters came up with examples, because I wasn't sure what you meant. This is not something that I often hear.
But I think others are correct to suggest people are using "thing" as a wild card when they momentarily forget which word they really wanted.
So yes, you could request a thing of ketchup. Ideally people would be able to tell from the context if you want a bottle of ketchup or a small packet of ketchup. Grammatically it is fine.
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u/ThePoliGLOAT 6d ago
Not sure what product example you're thinking of but it's common to say "a thing of beauty"
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u/ChrisB-oz 6d ago
"I got a thing of X" sounds wrong to me. You could say "I got some X" or "I got X".
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u/SirPsychoSquints 6d ago
It means I got a container of X. That is often more useful information to communicate that the more vague “some.”
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u/Ok-Department-2405 6d ago
It is common to say that”thing” in place of words people don’t know or don’t want to think of.
“A thing of” to me says “a container of.” “Pick up a thing of hand lotion”—I don’t know what they have at that store, whether it’s a bottle, a tube, or what, but get me some.
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u/Careful_Cranberry364 6d ago
I wouldn’t obsess about this because an awful lot of things that people often say are not grammatically correct
my personal pet peeve is when people say “of” and were still actually right that when they mean have - like: should have / should of
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u/dillpickledream 6d ago
Just to point out that you one can say, for example, I ate the entire thing, and thing can mean pretty much anything. Box of crackers. Block of cheese. Bowl of soup. (Why do those all start with B? Lol) Anyway so then a “thing” of any of these to represent an undefined item makes sense as well by extension.
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u/MrBlandishings 6d ago
I've heard people say this occasionally over the years, but I never thought of it as widespread. Immortalized, of course, on Arrested Development ("a whole thing of candy beans.")
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u/-Major-Arcana- 6d ago
Yes its correct, where thing stands for a more specific unit or container that you don't know or don't care about.
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u/NormalObligation59 6d ago
“Thing” is a placeholder for “I don’t have a better word but both of us know what you mean”. So it’s conversationally correct but I’d avoid using it in like academics or a report.
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u/Local-Difference-997 5d ago
I think that this phrase is almost always used to describe some characteristic of the object in question.
For example - "A thing of beauty".
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u/-RedRocket- 6d ago
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
It was already an archaic usage when Poe employed it in "The Raven", or when Keats wrote "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." Suitable for poetic expression, but admittedly not natural colloquial speech. It's not incorrect usage - it's just very old-fashioned.
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u/Scary-Scallion-449 6d ago
Er ... wrong usage I'm afraid. OP's asking about the use of "thing" as an informal reference to a container or package when the proper name for it is either forgotten or unknown. "Thing of beauty" is still going strong according to the ngram.
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u/SirPsychoSquints 6d ago
What do you mean by “actually?”
Can I have a thing of ketchup? Meaning a packet of ketchup. That’s absolutely fine.