Where is the word "posh" derived from?

Question

10 pts. if you're the first to get it!

Answer 1

Here's what Wikipedia has on the subject:

The origin of the word is obscure. The first recorded use of the word was in the British satirical magazine Punch on 25 September 1918, although an earlier possible reference uses the word push [4]. The OED records a definition of the word as a noun from 1890, meaning "a dandy".

A popular but false etymology states the expression originated from the phrase "Port Out, Starboard Home", which, before air-conditioning, were allegedly the most desirable cabin locations on ships travelling to and from British colonies in the Far East because they were shaded from the sun in both directions. However, extensive searching of shipping company records and tickets from that period has failed to reveal any evidence for explicit "Port Out, Starboard Home" reservations. [1][2][4].

The prevalence of this false etymology is somewhat encouraged by a song in the musical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The song P.O.S.H. includes the lyrics:

"Whenever I'm bored I travel abroad but ever so properly,
"Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-H, posh."

Yeah, so it sounds like that whole "Port Out, Starboard Home" is phoney, unless we consider Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to be a legit source. LOL

Answer 2

Oh yes, Mater, we had a posh time of it down there." So in Punch for September 25, 1918, do we find the first recorded instance posh, meaning "smart and fashionable." A popular theory holds that it is derived from the initials of "Port Out, Starboard Home," the cooler, and thus more expensive, side of ships traveling between England and India in the mid-19th century. The acronym POSH was supposedly stamped on the tickets of first-class passengers traveling on that side of ships owned by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. No known evidence supports this theory, however. Another word posh was 19th- and early 20th-century British slang for "money," specifically "a halfpenny, cash of small value." This word is borrowed from the Romany word "half," which was used in combinations such as "halfpenny." Posh, also meaning "a dandy," is recorded in two dictionaries of slang, published in 1890 and 1902, although this particular posh may be still another word. This word or these words are, however, much more likely to be the source of posh than "Port Out, Starboard Home," although the latter source certainly has caught the public's etymological fancy.

Answer 3

Port Outbound Starboard Home

Answer 4

port over, starboard home....

apparently, it was the way to cruise across the atlantic for those we now describe as posh. travelling (to the americas), they would book their accomodations on the post side, but they would take a starboard cabin for the trip home. i'm not sure wwhat the reasons were, but i'd say it ptobably has something to do with the weather or some such point of confort.

Answer 5

Port Out Starboard Home--the desireable cabins when travelling to India

Answer 6

From when the british sailed to India....Port outbound - starboard home. This way the sun did not strike their cabin late in the day and it was cooler to sleep