POSH

[Dr. Goodword]

• posh •

Pronunciation: pahsh • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Luxurious, fashionably fine, superbly appointed.

Notes: Today's Good Word sports an adverb, poshly, and a predictable noun, poshness. Since it has only one syllable, it can be compared the old-fashioned way, posher, poshest.

In Play: Today's word refers to highest point on the 'upscale' register: "Frieda Livery told her husband that the apartments in The Harry Arms simply were not posh enough for someone of their wealth and caliber." Of course, the perception of poshness is subjective and personal: "Bobby Lou's impression of a posh restaurant is one that gives its customers whole paper napkins."

Word History: The first published instance of today's Good Word appeared in the September 25, 1918 issue of the British humor magazine, Punch: "Oh yes, Mater, we had a posh time of it down there." Since then, the guessing game as to its origin has gotten out of control. The speculations include the Romany (Gypsy) word pash "half-penny" and the late 19th century noun posh "dandy". The most persistent story of all is the urban legend that it is an acronym for Port Out, Starboard Home, a phrase purportedly stamped on the tickets of exclusive passengers reserving the cooler side of the ships sailing between England and India way back when. However, no one has succeeded in producing an example of such a ticket as of this writing. (Today we offer our poshest gratitude to Jewell Halwachs, the Monterey Girl of the Alpha Agora, who was generous enough to suggest it.)

[Slava]

Port Out, Starboard Home - did they move cabins to the other side as the sun moved through the heavens?

[bnjtokyo]

Slava, is it really the case that you don't know the legend? If not, in the days of the Raj,"out" referred to the voyage from London to India, and a cabin on the port side going through the Suez Channel and the Red Sea (heading roughly south) was the shady side in the heat of the afternoon. On the "home" voyage. the starboard side was shaded during the afternoon in this section.

As I wrote this, I also realized that during the passage along the Mediterranean, Gibraltar to Alexandria, port would be on the north side of the ship and therefore also shadier than the south side. And of course the opposite on the "home" bound leg after drinking too many gin and tonics during the several years our colonial administrator spent "east of Suez" (Kipling, On the Road to Mandalay)