posh
luxurious, of high quality (places and things)
TRANSLATION
posh = schick, edel --- GOOGLE INDEX posh: approximately 65,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
POSH surroundings, gourmet food, spa treatments and impeccable service can transform waiting for a plane into a luxurious treat or a productive time away from the office.
(www.cnn.com)
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The world's most luxurious organic food store has opened a branch in London's POSH Kensington neighbourhood.
(BusinessWeek magazine)
(www.cnn.com)
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The world's most luxurious organic food store has opened a branch in London's POSH Kensington neighbourhood.
(BusinessWeek magazine)
Did you
know?
posh
adjective
- expensive and of high quality
- from a high social class
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One of the most common theories about the origin of "posh" stems from folk etymology. While the argument is quite persuasive, most etymologists meanwhile dismiss it as a myth. As the story goes, posh is actually an acronym for "port out, starboard home." This stems from the fact that on ocean voyages between Britain and India, the best side of the ship was the port side (left) going out, and the starboard side (right) coming back, because these sides were always cooler (as far as the weather is concerned).
That meant of course that the most expensive cabins were on the port side when leaving, and the starboard side when returning. Some have suggested that one of the major ship lines even printed tickets with the acronym P.O.S.H. This makes for excellent pub conversation and is a good way to impress friends and colleagues with the depth of your etymological expertise. Unfortunately there is no evidence to back up this theory. It also begs the question, what would they have printed on the tickets if the voyage originated in India? S.O.P.H.?
The Oxford Dictionary suggests that posh may have stemmed from the noun posh, a slang Romani word meaning "money," or from the Urdu word safed-pōś, meaning "well-dressed" or "dressed in white," which was sometimes applied in a derogatory way to mean "affluent." There is no real evidence to support these suggestions either.
In any case, posh is still frequently used in a negative or humorous sense to describe the upper-class lifestyle. A good example is the trend among rich and famous women to bear their children via so-called cesarean sections as opposed to the way nature intended. As the London Independent newspaper reported, the hospital serving the Chelsea section of London, the most fashionable in the capital, has the highest caesarean rate in England. Many people have thus taken delight in suggesting that the female residents of Chelsea are "too posh to push."
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SYNONYMS
chic, classy, exclusive, high-class, la-di-da, luxurious, ritzy, swank, trendy, upper class
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The conference took place at a very posh hotel in Monaco."
adjective
- expensive and of high quality
- from a high social class
---
One of the most common theories about the origin of "posh" stems from folk etymology. While the argument is quite persuasive, most etymologists meanwhile dismiss it as a myth. As the story goes, posh is actually an acronym for "port out, starboard home." This stems from the fact that on ocean voyages between Britain and India, the best side of the ship was the port side (left) going out, and the starboard side (right) coming back, because these sides were always cooler (as far as the weather is concerned).
That meant of course that the most expensive cabins were on the port side when leaving, and the starboard side when returning. Some have suggested that one of the major ship lines even printed tickets with the acronym P.O.S.H. This makes for excellent pub conversation and is a good way to impress friends and colleagues with the depth of your etymological expertise. Unfortunately there is no evidence to back up this theory. It also begs the question, what would they have printed on the tickets if the voyage originated in India? S.O.P.H.?
The Oxford Dictionary suggests that posh may have stemmed from the noun posh, a slang Romani word meaning "money," or from the Urdu word safed-pōś, meaning "well-dressed" or "dressed in white," which was sometimes applied in a derogatory way to mean "affluent." There is no real evidence to support these suggestions either.
In any case, posh is still frequently used in a negative or humorous sense to describe the upper-class lifestyle. A good example is the trend among rich and famous women to bear their children via so-called cesarean sections as opposed to the way nature intended. As the London Independent newspaper reported, the hospital serving the Chelsea section of London, the most fashionable in the capital, has the highest caesarean rate in England. Many people have thus taken delight in suggesting that the female residents of Chelsea are "too posh to push."
---
SYNONYMS
chic, classy, exclusive, high-class, la-di-da, luxurious, ritzy, swank, trendy, upper class
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"The conference took place at a very posh hotel in Monaco."
