Fun With Words, Sort Of.
I always have a tough time when it comes to characters who wouldn’t normally refer to their bits and pieces by either the official medical term nor common slang — I never know quite what I should use. Asking the character often results in a blank look and a shrug, ‘cause duh, they don’t know.
I’m not a huge fan of anything that sounds like it came out of a romance novel, so things like ‘manhood’, ‘rod’, and ‘member’ are out. (Besides which, they don’t tend to think of themselves as “men”, so.) Medical terms are too clinical, usually; and common slang is either too cutesy/childish or too rude.
Bah. It’s all my own fault for liking characters with communications difficulties, really. (And to be honest, I’m grateful that this is one of my worst problems when it comes to writing my current story.)
