Another Think??

It's funny how you live on this Earth for twenty-six years and counting, speaking basically the same King's English for most of that time, and believing that you pretty much know what you're saying - but then, you have another think coming.

Another think???

When I read that phrase last night in my Mitford novel, I honestly thought it was a misprint (one of several I've caught so far - that's the kind of nerd I am) - because surely they meant to say "another thing coming" - that's what I've always said, and surely 26 years in an English-speaking nation (reading numerous books written in said language) haven't betrayed me. But then this morning, as I listened to a Richard Peck novel on tape, I realized that the narrator distinctly used the same phrase - the click at the end of "think" was unmistakable.

Has it been this way all along??? Why didn't someone correct me??? Geez. The things you learn.

Speaking of which, my Children's Lit class has also enlightened me to the fact that Carolyn Keene is Not a Real Person. For those of you who did not spend pre-adolescent years dreaming of driving a convertible with a suitcase in the trunk, packed in case you ever had to stay the night somewhere in order to solve a mystery, Carolyn Keene is the author of the Nancy Drew Series. Well, actually, she's not, since she doesn't exist. Turns out that "Carolyn Keene" is the cover name for a whole slew of ghost writers hired by Edward Stratemeyer to flesh out plots that he outlined for the series. Same thing for Hardy Boys and several other major series that came out back when. Amazing. All this time, I felt a somewhat personal attachment to an author who wasn't even real!

They should teach you these things in school. (At least before you hit the master's degree level, for Pete's sake!)