posh, was Re: Halls of ivy

[James Mullan]

At 11:38 13/03/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Anyone have any explanations on the real origin of "posh"?
[snip]
Yep. IMHO, POSH (sorry for apparently shouting) had, as one of its sources:
Port Out, Starboard Home. Used refer to British administrators, on their
way by ship to fulfilment of their tasks as (then) Masters of the (then)
British Empire, used have their shipboard tickets & baggage marked POSH, so
that they were berthed on the shady side of the vessel in each direction,
as it passed through the Suez Canal & Indian Ocean, Out to posting, and
Home to Blighty.

That way, it's said, they didn't arrive looking like "Poms", one of which
derivations - and there are many claimed - referred to the way they looked
after a little time in the Aussie sun in the days well before 45 SPF
sunscreen and erosion of the ozone layer ;-).

HTH, even if a little controversy might now ensue ;-).
Jimmy