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what’s something that absolutely ISN’T posh but you thought it was?

612 replies

WrSad · 03/02/2021 17:53

I would say

Having 3 bathrooms

OP posts:
ThereOnceWasANote · 04/02/2021 17:25

Angel delight - we had to eat instant whip.

Rupertbeartrousers · 04/02/2021 17:31

Tropical fish tanks, desperate for one when I was a kid

TheSmallClangerWhistlesAgain · 04/02/2021 17:32

@MaryIsA

I went to school with proper posh people (we weren't). They quite often lived in terribly scruffy, but huge, houses with lots of dogs, sofas covered in dogs, beds covered in dogs. They'd never have had a radio times in a leather cover.
One of my friends was quite posh and had a conservatory thing in the front of the house where the spare and unfavoured antique chairs were kept, for the dogs to sleep on. It was the Dogs' Room. The more well-off sorts in my family and social circle have family photos everywhere too. Faded wedding pictures, snaps from interesting holidays, big portrait-style ones in the dining room, pics of the kids along the staircase. Horror of family photos and "clutter" is very non-U, if you care about that sort of thing.
Rupertbeartrousers · 04/02/2021 17:32

Napkin rings

IamaBluebird · 04/02/2021 17:33

Going for a ‘ sasparella’ at the cafe .

draughtycatflap · 04/02/2021 17:46

Lube instead of spit... 😂

florascotia2 · 04/02/2021 17:46

Am being perfectly serious and the reverse of patronising: I do hope that someone somewhere archives this.

Not only does it have enough detailed info for a really good sociology MA and dissertation, it also - and to my mind much more importantly - reveals the amazing good humour and generosity of spirit of the contributors.

Also being serious, this documents how our expectations have dramatically changed since (eg) the 1960s. There's nothing at all wrong with that; I'm just saying. But during that time family food/cooking/housecare in the UK has been transformed, materially speaking, from somewhere with no fridge or freezer or microwave and - if women were lucky - only a twin-tub washer. As a nation, in the 1960s-1980s knowledge of the food from other cultures was lamentable. Takeaways - apart from fish and chips on a Friday - simply did not figure. Nor did big supermarket shops, nor readily accessible wine and beer. Pizza was genuinely exotic; ditto spagh bol. Few fish fingers (only invented 1955); no turkey monstrosities. No sweet corn or red peppers or squash or sweet potatoes. Real ground coffee was rare and very expensive and perhaps a twinge suspect.
And so on and so on.

To repeat, I am NOT being critical. Just that I think that people living now may not perhaps have the information to see how dramatically domestic lives have changed over the past 50 or 60 years. And, from the point of view of women's history, that knowledge should be preserved.

CormoranStrike · 04/02/2021 17:52

Crisps with a salad - four of us kids, and mum would open a packet is ready slated and put a few on each of our plates to be fancy.

Rupertbeartrousers · 04/02/2021 17:57

Cormoran, You just reminded me about salad as my mum/grandma did on a Saturday or a proper ‘posh’ buffet...

Waldorf salad
Boiled eggs through a mandolin slicer (which I loved to play with like a harp)
cucumber cut in half and twisted
Gala pie

OhWhyNot · 04/02/2021 17:57

Going to Bernie Inn. We dressed up as it was such an occasion. I wore my black patent ankle strap shoes (from Ravel) with white patterned socks that you needed sunglasses to look at they were so bright white and my dress with strawberries on. I remember having melon for starters, steak then to top it all of a knickerbocker glory we thought it was so special

I’m loving this thread brings back lovely memories 😁 does it need the serious tone Confused

Ineedsleepzz · 04/02/2021 18:01

Eating dinner at the table🙈🙈.

florascotia2 · 04/02/2021 18:02

OhWhyNot Look, I've gone out of my way to say that I'm full of respect for people who have shared info here. I'm saying that their experience should be valued and maybe celebrated. Why be negative about that?

OhWhyNot · 04/02/2021 18:05

MaryIsA I too went to middle school with a lot of very posh girls (who mainly went on to private high school) I remember my Nan commenting on a friends not so clean and smart uniform/shoes as mine she always looked scruffy and wore hand me downs. My Nan thought it was a terrible shame for the poor girl

RoSEbuds6 · 04/02/2021 18:09

@florascotia2 I agree with you, and was thinking exactly the same - such a rich collection of information.

OhWhyNot · 04/02/2021 18:23

Look 😆

Oh ok then

LetItGoGo · 04/02/2021 18:24

Reading this thread :
Weekend breakfast in Kiev sounds posh and brilliant!

Yes to a doorbell being posh when I was a child. Traditional types were found on big houses. Then electric doorbell types were just coming in and were very cutting edge!

WeeDangerousSpike · 04/02/2021 18:28

Orange juice as a starter! Or melon boat.

I went to a wedding as a kid and dessert was champagne sorbet with a crystallised violet - that seemed very very posh.

People who stayed in hotels - we had a caravan, DF was self employed and would drive us to the campsite, not too far away, then go back home to work for a week, then pick us up the following weekend.

I'm mid 30s and finding quite distressing how many things PPs have mentioned didn't exist when I was a kid!

yamadori · 04/02/2021 18:33

@megletthesecond

Hampton court palace flower show.
It is considerably more posh if you go on RHS Members' Day.
visitorfromtheplanetzog · 04/02/2021 18:37

@LaurieFairyCake

Having 'staff' (cleaner/housekeeper/gardener/nanny/driver)

Now I would only think having your own driver is posh

No, it just means you're rich and you've had your driving licence taken away Grin
MeIiody · 04/02/2021 18:37

"Saying scone to rhyme with cone is posh ;)"

Quite the opposite, in fact. To rhyme with cone might sound posh but it is not, also scone, to rhyme with gone, is the more correct pronunciation.

Bangable · 04/02/2021 18:39

@Gingaaarghpussy

This thread is making me feel bad.Sad I knew we weren't poor growing up but seeing a lot of stuff on here as posh that was normal for me, is depressing. Although my mother was always a mahoosive snob. She was not content with bog standard tea, she went out and got samples of various "posh" teas and created her own blend. Something like, darjeeling, assam and earl grey mixed together. In later years there was a shop that did it for her and was known as the Kinchin blend.
oh dear
Chutneywashisname · 04/02/2021 18:43

The weirdest one was that I believed that being Catholic was a definite marker of poshness. The only reason I can think I believed this is that I went to a CofE church school and only knew two Catholics who were both quite well to do

This made me remember thinking the exact same of Protestants. Everyone we knew was Catholic and the couple of Protestant families we knew -while not considered posh - were thought to be very hardworking people who didn’t tolerate idle chat. Looking back they were small farmers. I’ve no idea where I got that idea from.

I was convinced for many years that being American meant you were automatically very sophisticated and worldly and very very rich. Prob got that idea from watching American sitcoms.

pantsville · 04/02/2021 18:45

Those big decorative ceiling roses
Dining tables
Victoria beckham
Glass shower screens
Garages (as in where you’d store a car, as opposed to where you’d go for repairs)

Bangable · 04/02/2021 18:47

@Onesipmore

Ah thank you *@NotAnotherUserNumber* ! Well *@hansgrueber* sorry if what I 'thought' was posh wasn't upper class enough! I rather thought that was the purpose of this thread ?
Yep, it's an odd comment @onesip, it doesn't make sense ! Confused
cafenoirbiscuit · 04/02/2021 18:49

Having shampoo rather than own-brand washing up liquid for hair washing
And CONDITIONER too 😳
Clothes bought from a shop instead of home made or hand me downs
Wrangler jeans. I found a leather badge from the back of some lying on the path one day and seriously wondered how I could fasten it to the back of my unbranded ones

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