I can't speak no English real good.

I've started reading for leisure again.  Right now, I'm just reading silly chick lit, in which I've never been interested before, but which I have found to be sort of soothing to read during my lunch breaks at work.  I spend all day explaining things to people.  Some of it is complex and deserving of an explanation from someone who is well-versed in the material, and some of it is painfully simple to understand.  The point is that on my breaks from this drudgery, I just want something mildly entertaining and easy to follow to occupy my time and give my mind a break.

Tonight I was curled up in my chaise lounge reading one of these books, and I came across this sentence:

"If Leo thinks that...well, he has another think coming."

Another think coming?

My mom has always been the person in our family to rule on all matters of uncertainty.  Whenever my brother and I have a disagreement, the one who is more sure of their point of view throws down the ultimate challenge:  "EVEN ASK MOM." 

So I went to ask my mom if this was a typo or if someone like me could have gotten this wrong.  Could someone who loves words, someone who has never had the most sophisticated vocabulary, but who considers herself to have a fairly decent grasp of grammar, who never has trouble with who versus whom, who hates incorrect expressions like "a whole nother," who loves to point out when other people use incorrect expressions like that with an air of superiority because she would never make such a mistake, and who would NEVER use a run-on sentence like this unless purposefully doing so to be obnoxious possibly have been misusing this expression?

My mom said it was a typo, that the expression was definitely "another thing coming."  My dad actually disagreed with her.  My dad is not the go-to guy on issues of grammar and spelling.  Ever.  But the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense.  If you think that, then you've got another think coming. 

So I Googled it, and sure enough, over 7 million results for "you've got another think or thing coming."  The hits that didn't have to do with the Judas Priest song all had to do with "another thing coming" as a mispronunciation of the expression.  It's supposed to be a purposefully ungrammatical joke.  I saw it best explained on a language forum that it would just not sound quite so snappy if you said, "If you think that, you're wrong, so wait for some new thoughts to come."

Today will be known as the day I actually learned something from chick lit and the day my dad actually ruled correctly on a grammar question when my mother did not.  Oh, the great pain of disillusionment.