Peckish

I've come to the realization that I've never used the word "peckish." What does it even mean, exactly? To me, it conjures images of baby chicks on a farm, but what sort of emotion is that supposed to represent?

So, off to the dictionary.

Turns out peckish means "somewhat hungry" or "rather irritable." At last! I have found the perfect word to describe my wife.

(She'd probably label me "puckish," after the slap.)

Questioningly

David H. asks:

When using quotes in a story, when do you use "she said" or "she asked." Also, what is the proper punctuation? Here are my examples. Is it:


"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Where are you going," she asked.

"Where are you going," she said.

"Where are you going?" she said.


A question mark is indicative of a question, obviously, and standard form is to follow a quotation with "asked." (Or "questioned" or "wondered" or any other suitable synonym.) Using a comma after a question is completely in error, although I do adore commas. And to end a sentence with "she said" when what she said was a question just makes my head hurt.

Thanks for the question.