Remember AlexBell's thread about "the days of innocence?"
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=262455
How suddenly it hit home for me. I have never "cleaned up" language in books I have prepared and uploaded to the library. (I don't count modernizing spelling as a "clean up".)
I am working on a children's book, "The Magic City", which is recommended for ages 7 - 14.
These are the paragraphs that concern me:
Quote:
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‘Yes; when my little girl was ailing you brought her a lot of pears off your own tree. Not one of ’em you didn’t ’ave yourself that year, Miss Helen told me. And you brought back our kitten – the sandy and white one with black spots – when it strayed. So I was quite willing to come and meet you when so told. And knowing something of young gentlemen’s peckers, owing to being in business once next door to a boys’ school, I made so bold as to bring you a snack.’
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Quote:
Philip, now laid across the knees of the Pretenderette (a most undignified attitude for any boy, and I hope none of you may be placed in such a position), screamed as the cage struck the water, and, ‘Oh, Polly!’ he cried.
‘All right,’ the parrot answered; ‘keep your pecker up!’
‘What did it say?’ the Pretenderette asked.
‘Something about peck,’ said Philip upside down.
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According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, Brits use the term to mean "courage". Americans don't.
I **know** that Americans, children AND adults, will snicker or maybe blush. Hey, I'm blushing just typing about it....
Also, "courage" does not fit the context of the first example paragraph. "Appetite", maybe? In the US, we sometimes "feel peckish" when we are hungry.
Anyway, I am hoping for feedback to give me an idea of the best way to go with this.
Thanks for any input!