h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...what it is that melts your chewing gum.

Didn't they say that when you were in school?

It was a firmly-held belief that getting, er, all hot and bothered while kissing caused your chewing gum to melt.

Cecil Adams started a firestorm on the subject. I reference 'The Straight Dope', one of my main research sites:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/467/does-passionate-kissing-cause-your-chewing-gum-to-disintegrate

Of course, this is pretty much a US concern. I guess nobody in Northern Ireland ever chews gum while kissing, not even in adolescence.

nope, they told us not to swallow our gum, so spit

otherwise it would do alsorts to our insides

before it even thought about melting, obviously

The only thing I learned in school about chewing gum is that it's crammed full of chalk dust to bulk it out. We went on a trip to a limestone quarry, and I was surprised to learn that their biggest customer was Wriggley's, who bought it to put in their gum.

But it's not just a US concern - ever since the GIs came to Coleraine in the 1940s, they opened Pandora's box, and our pavements and bus stops are as pock-marked with gum as yours.

oh god that sounds worse,goes away now

will read tomorrow

I have not personally chewed gum since the 1970s. That's when my TMJ started acting up.

Chewing gum is really dangerous if you have TMJ. Crack your jaw, and you're in a lot of trouble.

Ouch - I had to google that, but it looks like it would make the risks outweigh the benefits quite heavily!

It'll make you think twice about it, that's for sure.

Shame, actually. I used to enjoy bubble gum. I remember how mad my mom was when my aunt, who was 18, stayed with us for a year - I was, let's see, six or seven - and taught us how to blow bubble gum bubbles, among other bad tricks.