[the_old_crowd] OOP - US/UK difference spotted

[Neil Ward]

Jo said:

<< On page 205, Fred and George are telling the trio about the horrors of
Fifth year and George says:  "...If you care about exam results, anyway.
Fred and I managed to keep our *peckers* up somehow."

I immediately went to check my US version, since I was SURE that I'd have
caught that expression if it was there and sure enough it reads: "Fred and I
managed to keep our *spirits* up somehow."

I'm appealing to the British listmembers to tell me whether the word
*pecker* has the same meaning in the UK as it does here in the US.  If not,
then is this an expression in common usage in mixed company, say, in front
of the vicar?  Otherwise, I'll have to assume that the Scholastic editors
are protecting tender American sensibilities from Fred & George's salty
repartee. >>

***

I would say that "pecker" has the same slang meaning in the UK as it does in
the US, but it  isn't used much.  If I heard, for example, that the vicar
got his pecker out at the village tea party, I'd know right away that it
wasn't his talking parrot and that he would probably be transferred overseas
to do missionary work.

The phrase "keep your pecker up" does mean "keep your spirits up" but
doesn't refer to the same sort of pecker.  In this context, pecker
apparently refers to the mouth (as in bird's beak/pecker) and holding up
your head rather than staring at your shoes in misery.

It's a rather old-fashioned turn of phrase that I would associate with the
1930s - 1950s.  "Keep your chin up" is perhaps more common.

So, Fred and George weren't experimenting with Engorgement Charms, but they
managed to stay cheerful in the face of adversity.

Neil