There are many things wrong with the port out, starboard home yarn. In this new book on the origins of words and expressions, michael quinion retells the mythic tales that have become popular currency the word posh deriving from port out, starboard home and also tries to find and explain the true stories behind the origins of phrases. Port out, starboard home and other language myths, london. Doesnt the word posh come from port out, starboard home. A popular story derives the word as an acronym from port out, starboard home, referring to nineteenth century firstclass cabins on ocean liners, which were shaded from the sun on outbound voyages east e. Quinion, though, would appear to relish bogus derivations rather than be irritated. The story seems plausible, and its attractive but its not true. Port out, starboard home false word histories explained. Port out, starboard home false word histories explained mantex. His book title port out, starboard home is taken from one of the most famous the assumption that the word posh is an acronym from reservations made with the old steamship companies servicing the british empire.
To ask other readers questions about port out, starboard home, please sign up. Its published in paperback by penguin in the uk and by harpercollins in the usa. Port out, starboard home by michael quinion books the. Port out, starboard home by michael quinion goodreads. In port out, starboard home and other language myths, quinion reveals the true origins of some wellknown words and phrases, as well as the notsoobvious associations between one common word and another for example, barbecue and buccaneer. Its called port out starboard home everywhere but in the us, where its title is ballyhoo, buckaroo, and spuds. Thus, the word became part of the language to mean better.
The tale about port out, starboard home also didnt surface until 1935, two decades after the earliest appearance of posh in the luxurious or. He has since written ologies and isms a 2002 dictionary of affixes and port out, starboard home. His book title port out, starboard home is taken from one of the most famous. I relate this anecdote because a few years ago, having received a copy of michael quinions port out, starboard home and other language myths, my inner child rose again like a. There are other theories to account for posh, one of which has been accepted by a few dictionaries.
Michael quinion the rapid growth of the internet and the use of email has increased the circulation of usually false tales about the evolution of language. The actual subtitle of the book is and other language myths. Use the links at the bottom of the page to buy the paperback editions. Port out starboard home is a book by michael quinion about some of the.
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