Now we know who is middle class - next, who is posh?

[Takver]

following on from this thread I was tickled yesterday by two definitions of what is posh:

• talking to a friend about croquet, which I think is a really tedious game, her answer was that only posh people play croquet, and that the problem was that I was not posh enough . . .
• and description by dd's friend (age 8) of the woman her mum cleans for that she is 'really posh, she has double sky that you can record on as well as watch, and a fountain that looks like stone but is really made out of plastic, and loads of trophies from horseriding' So now I want the collective wisdom of MN - apart from croquet playing and fake stone fountains, what is really, really posh ?

Yes dirty blonde and often very very messy hair, thick and the biggest mess of a ponytail near the back.

Maybe hairbrushes are for plebs

WC much more likely to over accessorise an outfit too.(What am i on about?)

Most posh people have rambling old houses, bloody freezing because they have no actual money - just land and old holey jumpers. Posh and rich ain't the same thing at all. Time to rename an aging Spice Girl?

Betadad I was telling my DH about this thread and his vote is 'well he must be posh if he's a bloke and he's on Mumsnet'. Not entirely sure about his logic, but there you go.

Noddy - agree re over accessorizing.

Per Una designer eyes one lovely, simply cut, linen jacket in off white. Adds lace frill on lapels. Adds cheap looking floral embroidery to hem in contrast stitching. Stands back to admire creation. But designer still unhappy. I know what it needs: a necklace!

real poshos wear pearls all the time, even when mucking out the horses.

What swedes said.

And goosey.

Yep SEA, and those pearls were grandmama's pearls, not bought from a shop but made for her when she was in India.

What was she doing in India, I hear you ask? Oh, Grandpapa was helping run the place. Someone needs to, you know.

Takver - thanks for that. Not sure about the logic of your DH either but I know I'm never going to live this down.

I think it might have been a compliment . . .

'Posh people'' are more akin to the working class than they are to the middle classes. Watching The English speaks of this. I'd really recommend this book.

Class issues fascinate me but at the same time it makes me uncomfortable that so much emphasis is still put on class in 2009.

The middle classes are by far the most class anxious imho.

DP is very 'posh', by my standards anyway, but not the stereotypical ''Hooray Henry'' he isn't at all stuck up.

He's an Eton boy, plays polo, his furniture was handed down to him, unfortunately for me as it's ghastly, his mother is a judge and a peer, his father owns a hunt.

He also calls his parents mummy and daddy, which drives me crazy. I hate it. It sounds so childish.

However he also adores Asda,likes cheap magazines and loves BGT and X-Factor.

I agree the true working class and the hoorays are very similar in many ways and tend to get on brilliantly.My dps family are half and half One side horsey rich folk and the others east end boxers!It works well though It is the inbetweeners who are concerned with teh whole thing and are always trying to either climb or hang on to their status.

Have you read 'Hons and Rebels' by Jessica Mitford? Her (posh) mother expresses pretty much the same thing with regard to the working and middle classes.... ie she doesn't like the middle class who are always trying to push their way up but the working class are fine because they know their place

Posh people have LOADS of middle names - why is that?

DH certified the passport application of a very posh colleague's daughter the other day - one of her many middle names was 'Gentleman'...

I've no idea dp has 8 middle names. I suppose it's one way of using up all of the baby names you like.

lol @ hmc's post of 22.52 yesterday.

and the very idea that th eposh are like the working class

8? How on earth does he fit it on forms?
(or do posh people never have to fill in forms?)

There is a lot to be said for the 'knowing your place' not in a bad way just the confidence of not trying to climb up or hide your class.

LOL He does have to fill in forms, thankfully he doesn't have to use them every time.

It is true that they are rather like the working classes.They tend towards eccentricity, they generally don't care what others think of them, they are both very comfortable in their own skin, the furniture tends to be scruffy and doesn;t quite match.
Their homes tend to be filled with kitchsy plates and ornaments. It's certainly true of my dp's parents. And they tend to call a spade a spade.

Watching The English explains it better than I can though.

That is interesting thunderduck.

and such bollocks