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Where does the words POSH, PORT and STARBOARD come from?

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    POSH is an old British term for travelling in luxury aboard ship. To keep out of the sun, Port Out, Starboard Home was the rule.

    (Stay on the left side of the ship on the way out and return on the right side of the vessel on the way home) This helped the wealthy passengers keep their pasty white complexion year round. A tan, to them was an affront to their status as a noble.

    The term starboard, the nautical term for the right-hand half of the ship, comes from Old English stéorbord and is a combination of stéor, meaning "steer," and bord , meaning "board." On old ships the rudder or steering paddle would be on the right side of the ship. Hence, the term starboard

    Why port was used for this is not known for certain, but most sources believe it is because the left-hand side of a ship was the side typically put next to the wharf or port. Especially if your rudder was on the starboard side, this would be the case.

    Source(s): Patti and I (and Grace, Ship's Cat) have logged over 10,000 cruising miles.
  • 1 decade ago

    In the 12 and 1300s, ships were steered with a long oar or plank that was hung on te right side of the ship, hence steer-board or starboard. In order not to damage this you tied up in port on the other side..port.

    POSH comes form the 1880-s...after the Suez Canal was opened there was a tremendous amount of passenger traffic, going out tot India and the Far East and Australia......and the 1300 mile passage down the Red Sea from Suez to the Indian Ocean was always hotter than hell..........preferred cabins would be on the east side of a ship, away from the afternoon sun.....that would be port side outbound and starboard coming back to Europe....this got abbreviated Port Out Starboard Home, or POSH..

    Source(s): maritme historian, 30 year live aboard in the Caribbean cruising sailor
  • 1 decade ago

    POSH was derived from the British passengers ships traveling to India. It means Port over, starboard home, referring to having a cabin in the shade both ways.

    Starboard means right side of the ship and comes from the steerboard which was located on the right side.

    Port refers to the left side of the ship and refers to the side that was placed against the dock for loading since the steerboard was on the right side, in Nordic times.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I don't know about posh, but port and starboard are nautical terms meaning the right or left side of the boat.

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  • ?
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    Posh was a Spice Girl. Port is a fortified wine. Starboard is what they used at night to line up the megaliths while building Stonehenge.

  • Bob G
    Lv 5
    1 decade ago

    An old term for the left side of a vessel (opposite of Starboard) was Larboard (laar or leer being Germanic for 'empty'). Since you'd moor your vessel with the side of your boat empty of steering gear against the pier or dock of the port, that became the 'Port' side.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    British Navy-

  • peggy
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    I do not consider that is correct

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