All Screwed Up

We were in Thunder Bay, in Mike's back yard.  Cole was playing with some new water guns (which we call water squirters) and refilling the water canisters in the inflatable pool. Mark had been refilling the water canisters for him, but I was trying to make him learn to do it himself.  At one point, I saw a filled canister floating in the pool.  Cole picked it up and looked at me and stated matter-of-factly, "This one is all screwed up."

My jaw dropped. "COLE!" I exclaimed, "You must NOT say that." In my mind, I was trying to figure out which irresponsible adult had used the phrase in front of my impressionable son.

He shrugged, "But Mommy, it IS all screwed up!"

"Cole! We don't say all screwed up. We say things like It doesn't work or It's broken. But it's not nice to say it's all screwed up."

He looked at me impassively and repeated, "It's not broken. It's all screwed up."

He held it up for my observation.  The canister was filled and the cap was closed - screwed on tight.

"See mom? All screwed up!"