You can sound posh, look posh, come from a posh family, visit a posh restaurant or go to a posh school. We all know what it means but where does POSH originate from?

We usually associate POSH with the British upper-classes and it has gained the wider usage to describe, sometimes pejoratively, ‘smartly-dressed, well-groomed, looking like you have money, as well as fashionable or swanky.
Popular myth has its origin in an acronym.

The rich who travelled first class on the ships between England and India preferred to have their cabins on the port side on the trip out to India and the starboard side on the return home to England. This was in order to ensure that they had the cooler cabins and also had the best view. POSH is thought to be an acronym of Port Out Starboard Home, which was reportedly stamped on passenger’s tickets, although there is no tangible evidence of this.

Another possibility is that the word originates from Romany, the language of the Gypsies. In Romany, posh means half and is used in monetary terms like posh-houri or half-pence, and posh-kooroona or half-crown. The progression of meaning from money to a fancy dresser to swank or toff is logical.

Finally, POSH could be a shortened form of POLISH and have referred to polished manners or dress.

Take your pick from these, or accept that perhaps this, like other words, this one has it origins in more than one story.