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How do you define someone as being posh?

(290 Posts)
NanKate Fri 19-Jan-18 22:18:59

This was a question posed on a local radio programme last night and was fun. Here are a couple of the suggestions, cocking your little finger whilst drinking, using a china teacup.

What are your suggestions ?

NanKate Sun 21-Jan-18 16:35:26

What a giggle licking the plates. In years gone by ‘ladies’ would pour their tea into their saucer and drink it from there.

What about playing croquet on the lawn ? ?

I find it odd that some of us who did the quiz and were U, started to apologise as if there is something wrong about being posh. We are what we are IMO.

Do you fancy adding a few names to posh people, here are my suggestions?

Penelope Keith
The actor Cumberbatch, what is his first name please ?
Eddy Redmayne

Over to you.

mymadeupname Sun 21-Jan-18 16:03:07

I remember a party we had when I was about 12. I was handing round sherry to people. Dry, obviously.

I took the tray back to the kitchen (ancient, wooden - the tray not the kitchen) where the dogs had been tempted away from the Rayburn by the plates gathering on the table. The dogs (Labradors) were licking the plates clean, as was Major Struthers. I was horrified and ran to tell my mum that Major Struthers was licking the pudding plate - the plate on which the pudding had been served, not just his own pudding plate.

My mother just laughed and said that when you are 80 you can do whatever you like. I felt a bit common then and I bet Major Struthers didn't say 'thank you for having me'. I'm looking forward to when I'm old enough to lick the pudding plates. Not quite there yet, but nice to look forward to.

MissAdventure Sun 21-Jan-18 15:56:16

I've just thought that 'thank you for having me' sounds common. A posh person would know that its not necessary. Common and childish! blush

paddyann Sun 21-Jan-18 15:54:10

never say thank you for having me ,usually say "its been great to spend time with you "

MissAdventure Sun 21-Jan-18 15:50:40

It does sound a bit childish, doesn't it? I expect people have been sniggering behind our backs all these years! grin

mymadeupname Sun 21-Jan-18 15:42:15

I still say 'thank you for having me' too. Now I'm wondering if it sounds silly at my age.

MissAdventure Sun 21-Jan-18 15:18:42

I still say "thank you for having me", now you've mentioned it. Does it sound ridiculous nowadays? Should I stop? I feel I must sound a bit silly. blush

NameChange2016 Sun 21-Jan-18 15:16:00

I was brought up to always say thank you for having me when I had been to someone's house and was leaving. I was also taught to never arrive empty-handed. And to write a thank you letter when I had been to stay with someone.

Also that the word 'toilet' was dreadfully common. We always said 'loo'. I have been called 'posh' a few times. And once that I had lovely manners!

garnet25 Sun 21-Jan-18 15:11:56

Granny 23 You sound posher than your sister to me, she sounds very Nouveau riche. Money cannot make a person posh it is upbringing and way of life. I came out U in the quiz but in reality am a mixture as I was bought up with feet and arms in all camps. Upper, Middle, Working, and Religious nuts!!

MissAdventure Sun 21-Jan-18 14:47:01

My posh friends have no qualms in talking about massive farts and such like. I find it really funny, but that's because I'm common blush

Jalima1108 Sun 21-Jan-18 14:45:47

I was told that one must break one's roll with one's fingers and never ever cut it with one's knife.

mymadeupname Sun 21-Jan-18 14:42:00

This is getting hilarious. What a great thread.

giulia Sun 21-Jan-18 14:39:50

Hilmix In Italy, bread is broken and placed on the cloth as the normal procedure - definitely not on plates. Butter is never offered.

Cabbie21 Sun 21-Jan-18 14:38:08

Actually I don’t really care which words are used.
I appreciate correct grammar, good manners and kindness. The rest is unimportant.

Cabbie21 Sun 21-Jan-18 14:37:05

I got out the “posh” dishes the other day when we actually had something sweet to put in them, as opposed to the usual fruit or yogurt for pud/ pudding/ desert / afters........

DH infuriates me by insisting on a linen serviette /napkin then making a huge mess on it when he eats his meal (dinner / supper/ tea) on a tray in his lap in the front room/ sitting room / lounge /drawing room.
Then he goes to the loo / toilet /lavatory and leaves the seat up.

Hilmix Sun 21-Jan-18 14:36:27

We live in a lovely mobile home in France so are definitely not regarded as posh. Some of my English acquaintances are amazed when they first meet us because we don't have a dog on a piece of string and my husband doesn't wear a sweat-stained vest. Some of these people regard themselves as upper middle class even if they live in one room of their beautiful stone built houses. One woman I met at a book club told us that her husband peed out of the window of their 3rd floor bedroom because the lavatory was on the ground floor of their dilapidated house and it was too far and too cold to go there. She was complaining that the stone facade had a stain from underneath the bedroom window. I regarded her as posh because common people would never admit to that much less discuss it .

Hilmix Sun 21-Jan-18 14:25:50

In France we put our pieces of bread on the table unless in very posh restaurant. Some French hosts stick the baguette under their armpit and cut the pieces with a hunting knife ( true dat!) while others just rip the baguette with their hands into manageable pieces. Hyacinth Bucket would faint clean away....

MissAdventure Sun 21-Jan-18 14:24:19

grin

annodomini Sun 21-Jan-18 14:24:17

If a person defines herself as 'posh', she almost certainly isn't.

kittylester Sun 21-Jan-18 14:22:41

Don't eat the ones in your garden!!

I thought they were called syphilis!

mymadeupname Sun 21-Jan-18 13:59:13

granjan that is exceedingly posh! I'd never heard of Physalis so googled it and there was the plant I remember folk growing and drying for indoor decoration, called Chinese lanterns.

I didn't know anything about them let alone you could eat them and (why am I even surprised) they are sold in, ahem, Waitrose. I am very impressed (though I don't shop in Waitrose myself, I prefer the farm shop and the local butchers wink.)

granjan Sun 21-Jan-18 13:41:09

I felt quite posh when I bought a bag of Physalis in Waitrose on Friday.
I can remember being told they were called Chinese Lanterns when I was a child, The 'old' lady who lived next door, had them growing rampant in her garden. Pretty sure neither the old lady or my parents knew they were edible!
We lived in a back to back terraced house. So yes, I admit I felt a bit 'posh'. Goodness knows what my mother would think! ??

mymadeupname Sun 21-Jan-18 13:31:30

annesixty I understand your concern but the situation is not without hope.

I suggest you change the context (can we edit posts in emergency situations like this when our public image is at risk?).

Try re-framing your obvious faux pas by passing it off as a typo. You clearly meant it as a verb 'to lounge' which is of course fine, as opposed to a noun, which is not. (Unless you are in an airport which do have areas to sit which are called 'lounges'.

WilmaKnickersfit Sun 21-Jan-18 13:25:34

I've always thought that getting out of the bath to have a pee was posh.

This post by Shortlegs wins Post of the Day! grin

annsixty Sun 21-Jan-18 13:23:13

I think I probably belong there more ?