OK so Victoria Beckham (AKA Posh Spice) has decided to challenge
Peterborough United Football Club over the use of the word Posh.
Peterborough have been known as 'The Posh' for about 80 years and
they even have the domain name ThePosh.com for their website.
But Mrs Beckham is objecting to them registering 'The Posh' as a
trademark because she says that all things Posh are now universally
recognised as being related to her.
The word POSH is an acronym meaning Port Out Starboard Home (it's
got somthing to do with the location of the best cabins on cruise
ships). Anyway, if Victoria is successful in her challenge we are going
to need a new meaning to the word... any suggestions?
Just to get you started - what about: Pathetic Old Spice Hasbeen.
or Photograph Our Swanky House?
Rhymester
Grrrr. Victoria Beckham. What does she do now anyway? Apart from be
a skilled self-publicist out for any taste of fame she can get? Does
she even have a record deal?
You would have thought, what with her husband involved in football,
that she would have understood that this might not be such a good
idea.
One thing's for sure, even in the current economic climate of
Nationwide league football, Peterborough United FC will be around an
awful lot longer than some decidedly mediocre "musician" who had the
good fortune of marrying a remarkably talented footballer.
Barry Fry's Barmy Army just got itself one new supporter!
Mark
The Squirrel Lover
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"posh", that is according to my dictionary "1. smart, elegant, or
fashionable; 2, upper-class or genteel". If VB is indeed synomous with
the term "on an international basis" and given this she can establish
and brand herself legally as the "Posh" - does this mean we, those
who have to endure this pitiful excuse for celebrity, can sue her under
the trade discriptions act given that she is quite clearly none of the
above?
Andrew
I think the Port Outboard Starboard Home etymology is considered a
myth. No one actually knows exactly where the word came from, but
it's pretty certain it's not an acronym.
From wordorigins.org:
This is another word with an apocryphal acronymic origin. Popular
etymology has it that posh is an acronym for Port Out, Starboard
Home . Supposedly, this acronym was printed on first-class tickets
issued by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
going from England to India. The port side on the trip out would have
the coolest cabins (or alternately the cabins with the best view). The
same would be true of the starboard cabins on the return trip. From
this origin, sprang the usage of the term meaning swank, elegant, or
fashionable. Unfortunately for this excellent story, no tickets with Posh
stamped on them have been found and company records reveal no
sign of the phrase.
The earliest recorded use of posh to mean swank is from the 25
September 1918 issue of the British humor magazine Punch. In 1903,
P.G. Wodehouse in Tales of St. Austin's used push to mean
fashionable. Whether this was a printer's error or Wodehouse actually
meant to use push is unknown (several later editors "corrected" this to
read posh). In contrast, according to Merriam Webster the earliest
claim to the acronymic origin dates to 17 October 1935 in the London
Times Literary Supplement, where it is claimed to be of American
origin. The earliest association with the P&O dates to two years later,
almost twenty years after the word's usage was established.
Posh dates back to at least 1867 in the sense of meaning a dandy or
fop. The best guess as to its origin is that it derives from Romani, the
language of the Rom (commonly known as Gypsies). In Romani, posh
means half and is used in monetary terms like posh-houri or half-
pence, and posh-kooroona meaning half-crown. The progression from
money to a fancy dresser to swank is logical, if undocumented.
Alternatively, Partridge postulates that the "swanky" meaning of posh
may be a contraction of polish.
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I am from Stamford - about 12 mile from "The Posh" - Peterborough.
As Andrew says, they have been known as "The Posh" for years.
Regarding Ms Beckham -
Maybe, POSH stands for - Patheitic Old Stupid Hasbeen. !! - mind
you, how can you be a 'has been' if you never were !