If you unintentionally swallow a mouthful of water while swimming; gets water in your throat and start coughing; what is the english word for it, the noun & the verb?
Unintentionally swallow water
- Thread starter Obolensky
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I don't think you will find a single word for that whole process. You can say inhale water and water inhalation. These phrases sound quite scientific or medical, and I am not sure if that is what you were looking for.
Since I cannot imagine anyone intentionally swallowing water while swimming, it seems to me that no further embellishment is needed.
The language, by the way, is English, which is always capitalized.
The language, by the way, is English, which is always capitalized.
You're right, not in the sea or a chlorinated swimming pool, but perhaps if you got thirsty in an unpolluted (Swedish mountain) lake!
Obolensky, have you considered choke and choking?
Ex long-distance swimmer here. Sorry to nitpick, but if you swallow sea water or chlorinated water you are more likely to vomit than choke, (although I have swallowed a fair amount of both in my time and nothing happened to me). You cough and/or choke if you breathe it in, not if you swallow it. That has happened to me on occasion, whilst swimming in the sea: a wave washed over me once when I turned my head to breathe in.
"Gulp" sounds rather voluntary to me ... especially since the 7-11 convenience store chain touts the Big Gulp soda.
See also: http://www.sweetfreestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/biggulp.jpg
See also: http://www.sweetfreestuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/biggulp.jpg
Gulp is normally voluntary, I agree, and when you're swimming, there's only a short time between strokes to take in air, so you gulp down air. If someone creates some turbulence, you gulp down water instead of air. The intention was to gulp down air but what happened was that you gulped down water instead.
I still think think the OP has made a mistake. Swallow is the wrong verb to use if you mean what s/he says, i.e. that water gets in your throat and you start coughing. I stand by what I said above:
As I see it the OP wants to know how we describe what happens when you open your mouth while swimming and find yourself with a mouthful of water which slips down your throat and makes you cough and/or choke. No swallowing or gulping involved in that, you're inhaling water.
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If water goes down your throat, you swallow it (and it may make you cough and gag). If it gets down your airways, you are inhaling it and you feel you are choking (you can't breathe properly). Of course, both of these may happen simultaneously.
If you mean when water gets into your windpipe, it is called 'inhaling water'. You can specify 'involuntary' if you want, though it should be relatively obvious that nobody would voluntarily inhale water. 'Involuntary' is used in a medical context to stress that it is a reflex reaction of the body to inhale water when drowning (strictly speaking, to seal the airways and try to expel the water through coughing, but this often results in water being inhaled).
Thanks, that is exactly what I have been saying in all my posts since yesterday.
After reading more posts, I might also say "some water went down the wrong pipe", or at least that sounds idiomatic if this were happening while drinking an alternative beverage.
(Besides swimming-pool, or sea-water. Not sure how to hyphenate there.)Right, perp: in BE we say 'it (be it food or liquid) went down the wrong way' to explain why we went blue in the face, once we've stopped coughing and choking our hearts out, of course!
Maybe we could say that in a swimming context. A wave washed over me and the water went down the wrong way, leaving me coughing and choking/gasping for breath.
Maybe we could say that in a swimming context. A wave washed over me and the water went down the wrong way, leaving me coughing and choking/gasping for breath.
Just as well. At least you'd understand what I was saying (water...cough!...went down...choke!...wrong way...gasp!) if I were drowning and save me.