Learn English – Why do the British refer to things as ‘posh’

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Why do the British refer to something very smart, or people who are very well-off as being 'posh'?

Best Answer

There are plenty of apocryphal stories. Given that the word does not have any lingering connotations of travel or tickets or navigation the acronym hypothesis is far-fetched and very unlikely.

The most likely origin of this word is from London street slang for money, current in the nineteenth century. It is a Romani word posh for halfpenny or small amount of cash (posh-kooroona for half-crown and posh-houri for halfpenny). This is likely the basis of the slang use of this word for cocaine to indicate the pricey nature of this commodity.

One of the earliest references (1892) that conveys the sense of dandy and swell again originates in London and came from George and Grossmith's character in The Diary of a Nobody.

There is a detailed analysis available here

Phrasefinder provides the following interesting information:

The first recording of 'posh' in print that seems unequivocally to fit the current meaning of the word is a cartoon which contains this dialogue between an RAF officer and his mother, also in Punch, September 1918:

Oh, yes, Mater, we had a posh time of it down there."

"Whatever do you mean by 'posh', Gerald?"

"Don't you know? It's slang for 'swish'"

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