Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to keep someone's pecker up

to keep someone's pecker up

9.9
Stay cheerful and hopeful during hard times
  • idiom
  • Archaic
translation icon : mantener el ánimo
  • Whenever things get tough, try to keep your pecker up and look on the bright side.

Examples

  • Their coach told them to keep their pecker up after the loss and prepare for the next game.

  • Sarah always tries to keep her pecker up during tough times.

  • She managed to keep her pecker up despite the disappointing news.

  • Don't worry, just keep your pecker up!

  • She managed to keep her pecker up despite the disappointing news.

  • Whenever things get tough, try to keep your pecker up and look on the bright side.

  • Their coach told them to keep their pecker up after the loss and prepare for the next game.

Synonyms

to cheer up
vsto keep someone's pecker up
  • Informal
234 1.4

To feel happier after being sad or to make someone feel happier

focuses on staying optimistic through difficulty rather than changing mood after sadness
to be positive
vsto keep someone's pecker up
34 3.2

To have a hopeful, confident attitude in hard times

leans more toward outward cheerfulness during hardship than only hopeful attitude
chin up
vsto keep someone's pecker up
  • Informal
15 7.1

Stay positive and keep going when things are difficult

is used as encouragement phrase rather than a general description of remaining optimistic
to buck up
vsto keep someone's pecker up
  • Informal
14 6.3

To become or make someone more cheerful and confident

is about staying cheerful and optimistic rather than becoming so
to lift one's spirits
vsto keep someone's pecker up
8 3.9

To make someone feel happier

is about remaining optimistic during hard times rather than briefly cheering someone
to keep one's chin up
vsto keep someone's pecker up
  • Informal
8 6.5

To stay cheerful and hopeful when things go wrong

is identical in meaning but uses a different idiom
to bear up
vsto keep someone's pecker up
5 4.4

To stay strong and positive when facing hard times

emphasizes staying cheerful and upbeat rather than showing strength or courage

How Cheerful

to keep someone's pecker up
  • Archaic
9.9
to encourage
∞ 2.3
to console
40 3.9

Surface Forms

keep someone's pecker up infinitive
kept someone's pecker up past
kept someone's pecker up past participle
keeping someone's pecker up present participle
keeps someone's pecker up third person singular

Morphology

keep + someone's + pecker + up

The meaning 'remain cheerful' is idiomatic and not transparently built from the parts: 'pecker' is slang with senses (nose; vulgar sexual sense) that do not clearly denote 'spirits', so a learner who knows the literal words would not reliably infer the intended sense. Although the construction 'keep X up' can be compositional (e.g. 'keep your chin up'), this specific lexical choice is culturally specific and unpredictable, making it opaque to B1 learners.

Etymology

The phrase keep someone's pecker up may come from a simple image: a bird or person holding their pecker, the beak or nose, high as if holding their head up with pride. That's why telling someone to keep their pecker up means 'to remain cheerful and optimistic'.