What does "posh" mean to you?

[FlatteredFool]

What is it about someone that would make you describe them as posh? I would think it's relative and depends on how much you assign class to people but I find it interesting.

I've been called posh a few times and it bugs me because I'm not posh at all. What does posh even mean? Money? Privately educated? Big house? Second home? Plummy accent? High flying career? Having friends in high places? Owning horses? Private jet? Those things just say to me that someone has plenty of money. None of them apply to me and the people I know that do have some of those things aren't posh to me either. Is "posh" the opposite of "common" ( I know how mumsnet hates that term, sorry) or is it something that can't be pinpointed exactly?

Oh goody, another thread about the class system

I get called posh because of my accent and manners, despite the fact I went to a crappy state school in a poor-ish area and had an upbringing on the borders of working class/lower middle class. I once had a boyfriend who told me outright that I was too common for him to consider a long term relationship with, and I once worked for a company where everyone else on my team had gone to fee-paying schools and I was definitely the commoner! It's just relative.

The only person I know who I would say is posh is from old French money, chateauxs, has paintings worth more than my house, he speaks better English than me and his English wife is fluent in French. His children board in Eton. However he is one of the loveliest people I have ever met, clearly very well educated but not rude and certainly doesn’t look down his nose at anyone. I went to his DC Christening which was in the amazing chapel in the House of Commons.

@EpiphanySoul1 exactly. Nothing posh about me at all. Ex boyfriends have called me posh. Some family members. My dd commented last week that I'm posh

@teentipans

I see the stealth boasters are out in force this morning..

Yep! 😆

I remember after the Dominic West/Lily scandal seeing his wife in the papers. She looked like she was posh, very slim, big hair, bit scruffy & plainly dressed, playing the role of the doting wife.

Yes, she’s a Fitzgerald, Irish-Norman aristocracy, daughter of the last Knight of Glin (who died without a male heir so the title has become dormant.) She and DW bought back the family seat, Glin Castle, which had been sold off.

It was very confusing Vegetariandeathcult.

Obviously I'm not posh myself because, although I could tell he was correctly dressed for something, I had to look up what that something was!

So then I was left thinking..... Are these the most casual clothes he owns?

It's possible there was some kind of Chris Eubank style irony at play.. ...

Quiet and kind, lots of people these days have horses and second homes real ‘posh’ people are posh because of their mannerisms and attitude to life.

As others have said "posh" is subjective and depends where you're looking at it from.

I've been considered posh at various stages in my life. I was agog the first time someone said it to me. In their eyes (and they eyes of their co-workers) I was posh as I had a soft, neutral accent, worked in a professional role and had been to university. They all apparently thought I was a "posh rich girl". Which I found quite funny. In reality I come from a very working class background, both parents had to leave school at 13 to go to work and I spent the first 10 years of my life on a rough council estate.

My mother wanted more for us so found ways to give us a well rounded upbringing including speech and drama classes (to knock the council estate out of us ) and lots of hobbies and opportunities to travel etc. As a result we're all fairly confident in any situation which seems to get mistaken for posh in some parts.

To me "posh" is landed gentry types. Generations of old money.

Yes, she’s a Fitzgerald, Irish-Norman aristocracy, daughter of the last Knight of Glin (who died without a male heir so the title has become dormant.) She and DW bought back the family seat, Glin Castle, which had been sold off.

She was giving me those vibes 😁

Some who are from a moneyed background and have genuine wealth are very charming and polite, not ostentatious or name dropping, frugal to themselves, yet plan for their kids future and are generous to charities, support their communities.

And then there are those posh people who got rich off the back of others, yet think they are better, look down their nose at the "have not's" and boast like Hyacinth Bouquet (Bucket) They have to make sure everyone knows they shop at Ocado and have room for a pony! I think they are insecure in their wealth because they dont have the good breeding to carry it off, unlike those born into it.

I'm not wealthy or posh by the way I do people watching!

@Averyyounggrandmaofsix

Boris Johnson is posh, says it all really.

What does it say?

I'm posh. Hence my username.

Come from old money & land (actually there wasn't very much money)

But comprehensive school (cos no money).

I call my evening meal supper but I shop at Aldi or Tesco.

@alongtimeagoandfaraway

I don’t like the word posh. To me it’s the vocabulary of envy.

Agree.

Speaking well (nothing to do with regional accents, just good vocabulary, finishing words properly), having good manners etc doesn’t make you posh. If that’s really the case, people need to raise their standards. They’re just basics.

OK here's another thing that's posh......

Remember when Brexit was going through Parliament.
There was a period where a lot of MPs (particularly, but not only, remainders) just seemed to have lost it.
They were like frightened husks of people. Trapped in an airless room. Cycling through all the parliamentary procedure they knew in the hope of finding something that would just. make. it. stop.

There was one particular day. Things had been especially fraught. And a number of politicians were being interviewed in the lobby.

The ones from normal backgrounds became animated. They expressed anger and exasperation. They forgot to code switch and reverted to regional accents.

The posh ones became more stiff and formal than usual. But with some kind of noticeable facial tick giving away their mental state.
Some tiny little muscle in their cheek, twitching. Or blinking fits.

To people without money, 'posh' can often be applied to someone with plenty of money.

I grew up poor, and 'posh' meant people who lived in big houses with nice cars, foreign travel and kids at private schools.

Once you've got money yourself, you realise it's more than that, it's 'old money'.

@minniemoocher

It's more the snobby attitude that makes someone posh. Money definitely isn't the main factor though it helps. I suppose it's the "old" money thing but even then it is more about how you act. Generally whilst privileged and posh often run in tandem it's not always the case now eg look at footballers!

So do you think “posh” people are all snobs? Because honestly it sounds as though you have an enormous chip on your shoulder.

Edit that. Not that they’re all snobs but that they’re linked?

Well the term posh is itself very common. Make of that what you will.

Saying wat TER and not Wat ER makes me sound posh. SatURday instead of SatERday. It's a sad state of affairs when people take pride in speaking really poorly and then getting defensive when corrected. It makes a really poor impression.

Snobs are very unpleasant people. Unfortunately they seem to think they need to boast about every new purchase, name drop about where they shop or go on holiday. Their utter insensitivity to those who are having difficulties is plainly obvious as they clearly think they are "better". You will not find those people supporting the business of their friend or neighbour because they want to shop somewhere they can boast about to their friends. insert posh shop and well known brands

Quite similar to Hyacinth Bouquet, really, whose neighbour was nervous and avoided her. She was talked about by everyone and ridiculed because of her constant boasting and ridiculousness!

Public school and a few generations of wealth.

Public school and generations of wealth carries with it the correct class and breeding.

It is always very obvious who got rich off the back of someone else and who has the correct class and breeding to treat other people well.

Eh @sugarfreeblitz how do you think the ‘correct classes’ got rich? Clearly also off the back of someone else. Example of the rich wife of Dominic west above. Those lands were seized from ordinary Irish people who then had to work the lands in exchange for a pittance. Certainly textbook getting rich off someone else’s back.

To me, Posh means the person is a wanker

I couldn’t disagree more. All the genuinely posh people I’ve known have been absolutely lovely. I think it comes down to manners.

I know and have worked with a few people who went to Eton and I consider posh and none of them have been wankers.

These threads always crack me up.

My family are in the Peerage and it was being called a work of fiction even in the 19th century

Our family includes a wide range of people. Some have regional accents and went to state schools, others Eton and Oxbridge. One person isn’t white. Only my sister has a battered Landy and we all tease her because it was bought brand new. We all use the word “posh” for sure, because there’s always someone posher than you.