The problem in the sentence "James didn't have no idea that we were coming today" is the presence of a double negative. In standard English grammar, using two negative words (such as "didn't" and "no") in the same clause creates a positive meaning. This can lead to confusion or change the intended meaning of the sentence.
Example:
Original sentence: James didn't have no idea that we were coming today.
Corrected sentence: James didn't have any idea that we were coming today.
By removing one of the negatives, the sentence becomes grammatically correct and clearly conveys that James lacked an idea about the visit.
