Posh……..a compliment or an insult?

I'm sure it can be used as either, or neither. People not only use language in different ways but have different value systems. To some people money and material possessions are their main source of status and identity. To others those things are derisory or irrelevant. Some people use language as a specific way of presenting themselves to the world and showcasing their values. Many simply want to express their thoughts and feelings and opinions in a non-judgemental manner and don't worry too much about their mode of expression.
I find it interesting to see the different takes within one thread. It always makes me smile to see definitive answers that suggest an opinion is fact.

An elitist in taste, not politically.

I was amused when a friend introduced me saying “She sounds posh, but she’s not”.
She knew my history, inner city near the docks (slums) and married up (young).

I’m not a snob, but I am an elitist.

MissAdventure

Me too.
It's of a real man I met, years ago.

Sounds Italian.

A work colleague (young man) once told me he thought I was posh - when I asked how he came to that conclusion he said it was because I lived in a village in a cottage!!

Our neighbour bought (or leased) a BMW SUV. He offered to drive us to a party we'd all been invited to.
"Ooh", I said. "Yes please. Putting on my posh frock and going for a ride in your poshmobile, what more could I wish for?"
That is to say, it's a word I would use ironically.
And I have been told that port out starboard home was never really a thing.

At school we were forbidden from using lots of words. I don’t recall posh being amongst them but some of the banned words and terms I recall were belly, shut up, nice, cake hole, was what, somebody/anybody/nobody.

Posh is what they call you when you speak differently to them. I'm often told I'm posh simply because I don't speak the local dialect and tend to pronounce my words instead of saying "fings like what we does". It's never said in a nasty way.

TattyBluebell

"My sister Violet.. the one with a Mercedes, swimming pool and room for a pony"! 😊

😁

"My sister Violet.. the one with a Mercedes, swimming pool and room for a pony"! 😊

Fantouche is a lovely word! I also like Kenspeckle. Both drawing attention to a person.

AuntieE I had to look up fantouche.
I see it is a Spanish word meaning puppet or loud mouth.

Lots to choose from POSH
/pɒʃ/adjective
elegant or stylishly luxurious.
"a posh hotel"
Similar: smart, stylish, upmarket, fancy, high-class, fashionable, chic, luxurious, luxury, deluxe, exclusive, select
sumptuous, opulent, lavish, grand, rich, elegant, ornate, ostentatious, showy, high-toned, upscale, classy, swanky, snazzy, plush, plushy, ritzy, flash, la-di-da, fancy-pants, swish, swank, swagger, swell, sprauncy,

adverbinformal•British in a refined or upper-class way.
"he may talk posh, but there is nothing fancy about Basil"
nouninformal•British
the quality of being elegant, stylish, or upper class.
"we finally bought a colour TV, which seemed the height of posh"
verbinformal•British

Not a compliment in my book

It means you speak badly.

It's no reflection on the rest of your life.

So what is the non vacuous contrast.
What does it mean to speak badly?

Thinking back I don't think we were allowed to use it, when I was a child. I may remember this wrongly, but I think I was told that only snobbish people used the word, and that it was not nice to be a snob.

Oddly enough, we were allowed to say that soemthing was fantouche, which I understood to mean about the same as posh.

Crossstitchfan

petra

Deedaa

I upset a lady I know by telling her about a house I had taken a parcel to. I said 'It's one of the posh ones with a double garage" "But I've got a double garage!" she said, looking rather offended. Having heard about some of the holidays she goes on I think some people would consider her posh.

Why would you say it’s posh because it has a double garage 🤷‍♀️
Genuine question.

Might it be because it implies two cars in the family?

Everyone at my school seemed posher than me.
Even those who lived in little houses like ours, because their Dads had cars. We all rode Raleigh bikes.

I suppose I must be posh now because we have a double garage and two cars (which never go in the garage because it's full of DH's junk).

Could be an insult or a compliment it depends entirely on who is saying it and the context.

Meanings change over time and are depend re not on context. Posh can be used as either a compliment or as a slightly derogatory term.

Much like the word 'wicked' means unkind, evil etc. to many people, but is also used is used by other people to mean good.

Me too.
It's of a real man I met, years ago.

MissAdventure

How could I forget?
A beautifully turned out man, in a well fitting suit, who smells gorgeous, is well spoken, and appears to be very self assured and competent.

Mmmmm...... love that description~~~

JaneJudge

or as we call it in our house, council pop

It’s ‘Adam’s ale’ in our house.

I don’t think posh and snob are interchangeable terms. I think of a snob as someone who looks down on others. Someone posh might also be a snob but, in my view, acting snobbishly would make them not posh.

I did recall last night of someone I know who is considered by many to be posh. Big old house (also very cold and draughty!!), family antique furnishings, old cars, a golden Labrador. She wears traditional clothes, wool jumpers, woollen trousers and speaks with a cut glass accent, went to boarding school and has on the wall the childhood watercolour portrait her parents commissioned.

She’s also ordinary, friendly and kind, not at all snobbish.

I think the double garage is incidental to the overall poshness, maybe?