From: utzoo!decvax!cca!ima!inmet!porges Newsgroups: net.nlang Title: Re: POSH, once more - (nf) Article-I.D.: inmet.40 Posted: Sun Mar 13 03:25:46 1983 Received: Fri Mar 18 02:21:46 1983 #R:decvax:-42500:inmet:7300004:000:534 inmet!porges Mar 11 14:09:00 1983 The "Port Out Starboard Home" derivation of POSH is a famous piece of "folk etymology" which means it's not true. I forget where I learned this (I think LA Times columnist Jack Smith), but one piece of evidence was that Port wasn't called Port in the last century, but "Hardboard" or some such word connect with Starboard. The same article (collected in a book) said that he had looked over maps of ocean liners in the last century and the given derivation of the word didn't match up with where the expensive cabins really were.