Comments on: You’ve all done very well…

By: McDuff

McDuff — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 15:35:42 +0000

Small streams.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:27:07 +0000

Since we seem to have posh down, anyone care to have a go at defining becks?

By: chris borthwick

chris borthwick — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 06:10:31 +0000

A line from an old BBC comedy, set in Wales; “Married and not even pregnant! There’s posh for you.”

By: JPed

JPed — Sun, 19 Sep 2004 05:28:02 +0000

Wow. I ran into English pubs in Switzerland, but this seems farther out than that. Although the poshest cup of tea I had was in Hawaii, but it was a Mandarin Oriental hotel, so maybe that doesn’t count as surprising since it was a global commercial concern doing the serving.

By: Keith

Keith — Sat, 18 Sep 2004 19:40:10 +0000

Here in North Wales, the word “Posh” applies to anyone who removes their Wellington boots before entering the house, doesn’t wear socks in bed on cold nights and insist on putting their teeth in before answering the door to the postman. I believe the English exercise a higher norm before you earn the soubriquet. But then, generally speaking the English are more posh than us in the mountains and the valleys..

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 18 Sep 2004 17:31:48 +0000

Welcome to Wisconsin. Carlos—you wrote: “Does this mean when I go to London, I’ll find myself in situations out of Lake Wobegon (the Wisconsin edition)? Criminy.” My bet is yes. I know if you go to Paris, you can find a sister tavern to Madison’s Harmony Bar & Grill. Complete with Packer & Badger gear. (Run by an Algerian native who used to run the Harmony’s kitchen.)

By: David Tiley

David Tiley — Sat, 18 Sep 2004 15:20:32 +0000

“Posh” is the opposite of “common”. Common people will say “posh” as a form of mockery, but genuinely posh people probably wouldn’t use “common”. They think all normal people are common, so it would be roughly the equivalent of saying “Isn’t the oxygen mixed with the carbon dioxide today”. Yes, it is. I have these beliefs from my mother, but then she is a true snob. And petit-bourgeois.

By: harry

harry — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 22:31:49 +0000

farmgirl, I’ve done this before in Sacramento and my experience there was comparable with yours; I did it in Milwuaukee 10 years ago and it was better, but not much. I was blown away by the experience this time. In fact, it, too, was extremely surreal, not only because of the time, but I feel reluctant to post about it for obvious reasons. The USCIS website is really pretty good, and will help you with whatever you want to do. If you have to call the toll free number, it takes about 5 minutes to get through the barriers, and at that point you are given a ‘wait time’ before you can talk to a real person. I did it several times before making my appointment through them—I found the shortest wait-time was acheived by calling straight after they opened in midweek.

By: doug

doug — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 19:52:15 +0000

Ken observed:”Amazon UK offers it for 12 pounds 99, while Amazon offers the same set (much less well described) for $55. Somehow, I don’t think the shipping will account for the difference…” sarcasm isn’t the free market wonderful ? /sarcasm even with shipping, it’s less than $40 from Amazon UK. Similar effects are noticeable in the domain of high-end bicycle parts, fishing tackle, and doubtless several others. I bought Julian Barnes ‘The Lemon Table’ via the web from a bookstore in South Africa, for $40. On Amazon US, it’s $16, and $16 shipping – still $8 cheaper than in SA. Shipping from US to SA is vulnerable to light fingers, though, so I went for the local option.. farmgirl, the trick is to find the Immigration office that’s off the beaten. In San Jose, there are vast numbers of foreign programmers, and consequent crowding. Once we actually drove to Calgary from Vancouver, and back: because it was faster than waiting for an appointment in Vancouver.. really.

By: farmgirl

farmgirl — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 19:45:23 +0000

I’m amazed you were able to book an appointment and renew your green card in 10 minutes! I had to go through the rigamarole in San Jose, pre-9/11. The office opened at 7, which is when I arrived. The line was already so long it took 2 hours to get to the door and pass through the metal detector, another hour in line for a number, and two more hours waiting to be called to a window, where an immigration official concluded our business in five minutes, pointing to things and not opening his mouth once. Adding insult, they didn’t even bother to fully staff up. Only a couple of “windows” were open. Grr.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 16:30:26 +0000

Does this mean when I go to London, I’ll find myself in situations out of Lake Wobegon (the Wisconsin edition)? Criminy. I should find a Packer bar there, just in case. Maybe Leroy Butler will drop by in November.

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 16:30:09 +0000

And indeed a quick search reveals to me that that story is a famous example of inaccurate folk etymology. Here is a book called Port Out, Starboard Home (and other language myths).

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 16:26:55 +0000

Pseudosophist—I have seen that story too but as I recall it was presented as an inaccurate folk etymology.

By: Chris Bertram

Chris Bertram — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 16:20:08 +0000

Dictionary.com gives “smart and fashionable”, which won’t quite do. The reason it won’t quite do is that “posh” also has connotations of aristocracy or, at least, aristocratic aspiration (giving rise to further possibilities of ironic use). [I see, btw, that the #1 site on google for “posh” is Peterborough United FC rather than La Beckham, as I’d expected.]

By: pseudosophist

pseudosophist — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 16:18:32 +0000

A Different Chris acknowledges that he has no real grasp on the meaning of ‘posh.’ My understanding is that the term originated on sea voyages from England to India, and means “Port out, starboard home,” referring to which side of the boat the best cabins were on. On the way to India, the views from port side cabins were of the coast, and on the way back, the view was on starboard. The view from the other side was water, water, water. Port out and starboard home were thus the more desirable, more expensive, more ‘posh’ cabins. Can anyone verify this origin of the word?