Swollen gums

I spent the last week on short holidays in Poland. It was unbelievably hot and dry. This clearly impacted my ability to use English properly. 

I was waiting with our son in the car for my partner to pay for the petrol. 

Here is the conversation that took place between us in English:

[Son]: Muuuum, when we were on the plane my gum was swollen…

[Me]: Oh dear, it can happen, you should be more careful. [I could swear he meant “I swallowed a chewing gum on the plane”]

[Son]: Well, it sort of came back later…

[Me – clearly shocked – did he mean “I swallowed the chewing gum and then vomited it”]: What? What do you mean it came back?

[Son, as if nothing happened]: It came back to normal later…

[Me]: You swallowed a chewing gum, vomited it and continued chewing?

[Son laughing]: What are you talking about? My gums in my mouth – you know, the ones with teeth – got swollen, hurt but later it was fine…

Verbs: Swell – swelled – swollen

            Swallow – swallowed – swallowed

Tiredness + poor grammar = linguistic confusion… :)