(pŏsh)
adjective posh·er,
posh·est Related Forms:
Word History: “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
påšh, “half,” which was used in combinations such as
påšhera, “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.
