posh English · revision 2412

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɒʃ/ ''(UK)''; /pɑʃ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It perhaps comes from slang ''posh'' “a dandy” (1890),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) earlier thieves' slang for “money” or “a halfpenny” (1830),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) possibly from [[rom|pash|t=half]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The popular story that it stands for “port out, starboard home”, the cooler and costlier cabins on ships between Britain and India, is without foundation;^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) the acronym story is attested only from 1933.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Smart, stylish, first-rate; spelled ''push'' in a P. G. Wodehouse story of 1903.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spelling ''posh'' appears in ''Punch'' in 1918.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) The early dates are one of the arguments against the acronym story.^(AHD) The word came to mean luxurious or elegant,^(RHWU)^(MW Collegiate) and in British use also upper-class or snobbish.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1830 – ''posh'', money, a halfpenny (slang).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1890 – ''posh'', a dandy (slang).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1903 – ''push'', smart, stylish.^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1918 – ''posh'' in ''Punch''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1919 – verb, to smarten up.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1933 – the “port out, starboard home” story first attested.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Elegant, luxurious and fashionable.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(British)'' Upper-class, or affecting to be so.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[poshly]]

+ * [[poshness]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}