Polite Paradise

Does charabanc have offensive connotations, or was it just outdated/obsolete?

Apart from a reference in a semi-obscene Stranglers song (Peaches is the title of that, if you’re interested!) it’s just a term that was very outdated. It appears in a book that was published in the middle 1930s and I think it was old fashioned even then. The modern reprint substituted coach instead - which is perhaps not entirely accurate in terms of a swap, but IS what was meant (it’s a vehicle conveying a bunch of school girls to camp!) and coach or motor coach is the term for that sort of trip that EBD uses in every other book in the series, so... ☺️