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What does posh actually mean in Britain?
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Is it about being rich, speaking with a certain accent, going to private school, or simply knowing which fork to use at dinner?
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In this episode of the English Right Now podcast, that's what we're talking about.
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My name is British English teacher Roy, and joining me to discuss at least 10 pieces of related vocabulary
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and teach you about this subject is my dear friend Rob.
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Hello.
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Hello.
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See, I'm putting on a posh voice.
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You did, didn't you?
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goodness how are you sensational oh how'd you do how'd you do how'd you do how'd you do yeah
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i'm i'm i'm i don't know i feel like i should become more formal the way you started
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that it's interesting uh instant now
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and say i'm smashing thank you marvelous it's a good point roy actually
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when you put on a posh voice yeah you become more formal don't you yes
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formality is is a weird one
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because it's it's it's i always tell this to students in certain environments it's absolutely necessary
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but in everyday life the more formal we are the more distant
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and it can actually cause more kind of social problems social distance
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if i become formal with you i'm creating a barrier you
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might wonder what have i done to upset roy you oh i'm very well rock thank you no i'm fine
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but of course it could be it could be down to
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my um down to my upbringing maybe i had a very good upbringing
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and i was taught how to uh behave
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and speak properly you know the queen's english yeah yes okay
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so this is we'll talk about upbringing in a moment
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but let's talk about that exact word posh good
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or bad what do you think
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if somebody says oh you're posh yeah would you say it's
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good to be called posh i wouldn't want to be called posh no no no
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because it has lots of implications really yes um it is
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an interesting word i mean firstly you may be going to
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mention this anyway about the origins of the word oh no
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go for it yeah well the word the word posh actually comes from cruise liners
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that used to go from the uk
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to america and to have the best cabin with the best sunshine and the best light
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was on the port side on the way out
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and on the starboard side on the way home so po port out
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starboard home posh is that true or is it is it one of those
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that is that it could be a myth
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but that's what i was told you know what you can let us know in the car
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because there's a number of those isn't there
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that people go yeah there's a number of those and people go oh and then people I'm going, no, it's not.
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It's actually from, I don't know.
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So you can let us know in the comments below if that's true, or we'll put something down in there.
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But that's a fascinating story.
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It's my story.
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My story.
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Yeah. But posh, yes.
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Posh.
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Posh can have kind of two implications.
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Yeah, posh is you're wealthy, you're well -brought up.
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Posh also means you're kind of a bit false.
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You're being a bit kind of trying to be better than somebody else as well.
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Yes.
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We have a word for those sort of people, don't we?
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careful careful uh snob uh
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which is one of our words a person who believes their tastes background
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or social positions uh position makes them superior to others uh
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and it's this arrogance this oh such an arrogant snob we sometimes hear it like
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that he's such a snob snobbish behavior is like behaving as
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though people from a particular social group are lower than them
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you know it's like it's like looking down on people yeah
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i i don't think the posh itself is a very uh it's a bit derogatory
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and i think it i i wouldn't like it
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so i'll give you an example i went to york
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and there was a we were walking through the streets of york as you do
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and this he was drunk actually it was it was in the evening
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but there was a rather a drunk fellow i thought oh gosh no
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and my son talks to everybody and he started chatting with this man
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and i was like oh no he's drunk
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and then i thought i better say something i was like
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oh yeah we're just on holiday up from here uh we're just up from the isle of white
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and this guy went oh you're right posh you aren't you
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and i said thank you and he went it's not a compliment uh
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but then after a few minutes he realized
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that I was just I just had a different accent
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and then he realized I was all right
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that I wasn't I didn't think I was better than anybody no I have
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that as well
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because I I come from I was brought up in a town called Henley -on -Thames
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so a nice town by the river it's famous for its annual regatta
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and stuff very posh and so of course
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when I always say I come from Henley -on -Thames they go oh you're you're posh
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but I always I always then follow it up by saying
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oh I lived the the poor end of henley we lived
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in a small house in the poor end of henley which probably a small castle In a small castle, not a big one Yeah,
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that's right Barely had two turrets But it's places Places and things have this Connotation of being posh
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When it's a very Generalisation, but it's not always Always right So that word posh realistically means Associated with the upper classes Wealth,
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privilege, or sophisticated Tastes, but a lot of people do use it In a derogatory way to sort of say Oh, you'll think you're better than us
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um we do have a class structure still in the uk
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i'd say um it changes from time to time we always
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talk about something i always find funny is everybody always says the war on class is over
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uh i read a i think it was kate fox she was talking about this
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and she said if it was over
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why do we keep talking about it it's never over yes
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no no we're still there i think the thing the boundaries the divisions have changed
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or blurred a bit more it's not as distinct maybe as it was in Victorian times or something like that.
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But we still talk about, we still, yeah, have this sort of class structure in our head, don't we?
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I mean, I've heard it instead of class, talking about socioeconomic groups and other kind of ways of introducing it.
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But traditionally, the class system was basically the upper, middle, and working class.
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They didn't like the word, we didn't, some people said lower class, but we tended to avoid that word
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so upper class belonging to the highest social class in society
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or the hoi polloi as they say the bourgeois this kind
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of you know the the kind of uh tradition it was people
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that didn't really work or was had money from inheritance we'll talk about
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that the middle class the middle class which really grew, I think it grew out of something called the merchant class
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and it was basically belonging to a social group traditionally associated with professional jobs education and relative financial comfort
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and now we have lower middle, upper middle and then in the past working class traditionally referred to people who did more manual jobs industrial,
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lower paid work so maybe somebody who worked in a coal mine was considered working class
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and somebody who worked in an office
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middle class but you're right it has blurred hasn't it yes yes
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because i think people well we don't have many coal miners do we
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but you're kind of your plumber
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or your electrician i don't think they would think of themselves
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as working class now they have quite a bit of money
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for a start they're not quite wealthy some of them um
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so yes and you have all these status symbols you know the size of the house you live in
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and what kind of car you drive all that kind of stuff
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and And the other term we used to use is like white -collar workers and blue -collar workers.
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Yeah, blue -collar were more industrial and white -collar were office, even though I'm wearing a blue -collar at the moment.
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And I don't even have a shirt at all, no collar.
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Oh, God, I can barely look at you.
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But yeah, I mean, you're right, it's blurred.
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I mean, in the past, maybe a plumber would have been seen as skilled but not educated, lower paid and all this but these days plumbers they're
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so hard to find they're so they're
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so in demand they can charge a fortune there are plumbers
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earning far more than somebody working in an office job
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so yeah you're right it's blurred in a lot of ways
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and i think i think that's a good thing
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but i think there's kind of this sort of middle working class all punched a bunch together
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and it's basically how much money you've got where you stand on
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that scale really uh but there's still anyway But there's still that higher tier, as you say, of posh, people who think they're posh.
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I think it's getting to the upper class and the rest.
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Yes.
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And it's trickled down.
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We might call these posh people toffs, mightn't we?
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Oh, it's a good word.
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It's a good word.
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You know, toff, it's a slightly informal, it's an informal word.
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And it's slightly mocking for upper class or wealthy people.
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If I were upper class or if I were wealthy, I don't think I'd like somebody to call me a toff.
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But it's got this image, hasn't it?
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What would you describe a toff as?
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Oh, somebody who, well, they dress quite smartly.
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I always think they have their nose in the air as well, for some reason.
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Yes.
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Like they look down on you.
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Oh, jolly good, jolly good.
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It's almost a toff has this idea of being rich,
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like snobbish maybe yeah totally unaware of how people live yeah uh real people live
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and of course the opposite of a tough
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if you wanted to insult somebody who wasn't a tough you'd possibly call them common
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which is a bit that's also a derogatory term uh it's quite insulting to say well it's not always
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but insulting description for behavior considered lacking in refinement and class
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so if you if you say all right all right roy you know
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yes you don't know how to comment It's like you don't know how to use a soup spoon, you know, rather than using it properly.
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Yes.
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What's a soup spoon, Rob?
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But I mean, this is this is the thing.
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It's fascinating to sort of talk about those sort of things about common, you know.
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And also, of course, common can also mean every day.
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I'm just, you know, common people and all that.
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And it's it's not necessarily negative, but it just basically means ordinary.
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I mean there are two types I think
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when I think of upper class
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and I think of being posh I usually think of what we would call old money
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which is wealth that has existed in a family for several generations it's passed down
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new money is the opposite which is wealth acquired relatively recently rather than through inheritance like maybe
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I mean I don't know but some of these businessmen
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that now you know maybe they are new money
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because they've made money from money
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or they've made money from money they've made money from nothing yes
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and interestingly and generalizing here but these people don't seem to be
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so posh it's the old money that's no posh new money
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yes you've got lots of money not necessarily uh high class or or sophisticated
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you know yeah and i i think
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that the in the uk in general we are quite class conscious uh
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which is aware of the differences between classes i think we're very class conscious um
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but more so of them and the rest i think it's getting to that level
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because i would consider myself for example relatively well spoken i would consider you uh well spoken uh
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which is speaking clearly and in a way traditionally considered i mean it was considered educated
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and socially prestigious not so much now it's just an accent um
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but well -spoken also means a good command of the language uh
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but i wouldn't consider you posh rob oh thank you not in
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that kind of no yeah well no
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but i wouldn't consider you posh in the sense of you know i consider you well -spoken educated
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yes it's interesting but i wouldn't consider you
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that level it's interesting about the voice i mean these days regional accents are you know perfectly accepted and stuff
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when you listen to old recordings of bbc programs they have
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very well pronounced rp accents who would say oh that's a
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that's a bit posh posh voice you know yeah i i
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mean i think you know there is the difference between a
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modern rp standard southern british english those kind of accent
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that accent and the traditional rp
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which is more you know you may hear the king using traditional rp
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and it's an interesting scale i know this is fascinating well the learners the the listeners will love it
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but the there is an idea that the posher you are the more you clip vowels vowel sounds
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and the more common you are the more you clip consonants
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so i mean i think this is a massive stereotype
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and it's a massive judgment and i i don't necessarily subscribe
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but you know you could say uh a handkerchief but
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if you listen to an rp speaker they say handkerchief handkerchief a handkerchief
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and they clip their vowels hello oh it's very good very
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good they clip it i i wouldn't even call it a handkerchief i call it a hanky
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so what does that make me hanky that's that's off the scale isn't it uh
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but uh that's that's that's incredible i i don't we do we do
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we do use the word posh quite informally
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when we talk about something a bit fancy like i'm going
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to a posh restaurant tonight a posh restaurant might be somewhere
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that has a tablecloth on the on the you know how
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you live rob um yeah the mcdonald's with a tablecloth um
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yeah we do use it you know i think it's also
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sort of saying oh i'm going somewhere swanky uh posh also i think
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if you describe a person as posh it's a bit more derogatory than a than a restaurant or Or, you know, I mean, if you came over to my house and went, oh, very posh, I might think,
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you know, I think you'd just mean fancy.
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But then we also have a mutual understanding from years of knowing each other.
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Yeah.
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Well, I do know you live in a huge castle on your own personal island.
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So it does all sound very posh.
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You have a very posh lifestyle.
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It's true.
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Let's not talk about personal islands.
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It doesn't seem to be.
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Anyway.
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But, yeah, no, no. My castle is always open.
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The drawbridge is always down.
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um but yeah there's this idea i think i think the word posh when we use it in general for things
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it can be a bit a bit more like banter like
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slightly joking it's quite it's quite a posh restaurant isn't it especially i think
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if it's a make it you know you go i'm going to
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that new restaurant oh it's quite posh for you isn't it
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it's almost still attacking your life saying you're trying to be above your station i think yeah um
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but there is this idea that the upper class they're quite privileged as well
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and i think that's the key piece of vocabulary we really
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need you know it's this idea their social status is higher
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they i don't think they necessarily do look down on the
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rest of the yeah some may some may not people are different
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but this i think there's this idea
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that we look up to the upper class and they look down
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and i you know i think i think it's this idea
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of privilege they've gone to the most expensive private schools private
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education they've had yes everything to handed to them they've had it yeah exactly they've had stuff handed to them
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because they've had rich parents who in turn had rich parents
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and so it's all been very easy they've not had to worry about money.
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They've had this privileged lifestyle that they haven't had to suffer.
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That's our impression.
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Maybe it's an inferiority complex, though.
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We think, oh, yes, they've got more money.
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They're better than us.
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You don't need to feel inferior when you're talking to me.
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It's fine, Rob.
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I love that we're painting me as posh.
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I definitely wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
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That's a great expression.
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If you're born with a silver a spoon in your mouth
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it basically means you're posh upper class uh this kind of thing it's probably
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because of the way they talk oh yeah like this uh
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horse riding tends to be associated with the upper class doesn't
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it as well it's another thing i don't know what polo gosh
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if you said i'm trying taking up a new sport roy
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polo i'd be like oh it's too too posh for me rob
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i'd be worried um
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but i mean it's yeah it's it's background private schools public schools uh private school
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and public school are the same thing aren't they basically well they're slightly different
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but they're both fee -paying schools if you go to state school
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which is the actual school then you're seen as more normal your average private private school
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or public school seen as a as a privilege hmm doesn't always mean by the way
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that doesn't calling it posh doesn't always mean it's better it's just um an idea
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that it's rich and and privileged that it's
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or feels it's better you know you know oh it's a posh restaurant
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but i know i just prefer you know the food may
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be better at this what we call a greasy spoon cafe
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like a like a just a bill you know sort of
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place where you see builders the food may be better there than some in fact
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if i'm totally honest a lot of sort of posh restaurants i don't really enjoy them
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because they come with small portions and i'm like
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but that's true all these swirls
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and kind of you talk about the difference in the restaurants
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and a kind of fry up place the thing is they
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could serve the same food greasy spoon would serve up bacon and eggs
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but a posh restaurant would serve up a beautifully served perfect
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egg with some beautiful crispy rashes of bacon same food
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but it's served differently therefore it's it's posh
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and they charge you more money for it i mean this is a whole different story isn't it
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because people do
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if something seems to cost more money they possibly do associate
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it with it being better oh you know this is a real treat uh
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so i mean that's a whole thing about human the human brain psychology working there uh
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but it's a fascinating one
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but I want to say thank you very much Rob for joining me on this subject
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if you would like to buy us a cup of tea
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or apparently a bottle of champagne no just a cup of
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tea there's always a link down below you can buy us a cup of tea to support this podcast
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and help it keep going but Rob thank you very much I'd say you're a down to earth typical bloke
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thank you very much Roy it's a privilege to be on this this posh podcast welcome your majesty
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take care see you in the next one bye
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Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione
Questa lezione di conversazione di livello B2 si basa sul video “What does 'posh' actually mean in British English?”. Questo video contiene 296 frasi e 3455 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 19:10. Chi parla va veloce, circa 180 parole al minuto: aspettati suoni legati e ridotti. Solo il 81% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese, quindi il lessico è impegnativo.
Vocaboli chiave di questo video
Le 15 parole più avanzate del video, con pronuncia e significato:
| Parola | Pronuncia | Significato |
|---|---|---|
| handkerchief sostantivo | /ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf/ | fazzoletto |
| accent sostantivo | /ækˈsɛnt/ | accento |
| privilege sostantivo | /ˈpɹɪv.(ɪ.)lɪd͡ʒ/ | privilegio, prerogativa |
| spoon sostantivo | /spuːn/ | cucchiaio |
| collar sostantivo | /ˈkɑlɚ/ | bavero, bavera |
| derogatory aggettivo | /dɪˈɹɑɡəˌtɔɹi/ | offensivo, ingiurioso |
| plumber sostantivo | /ˈplʌm.əɹ/ | idraulico |
| blur verbo | /blɝ/ | sbavare, offuscare |
| traditionally avverbio | /tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nə.li/ | tradizionalmente |
| upbringing sostantivo | /ˈʌpˌbrɪŋɪŋ/ | educazione |
| vowel sostantivo | /ˈvaʊ.əl/ | vocale |
| educate verbo | /ˈɛd͡ʒ.əˌkeɪt/ | istruire, educare |
| insult sostantivo | /ɪnˈsʌlt/ | insulto, offesa |
| podcast sostantivo | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | podcast, audioprogramma |
| greasy aggettivo | /ˈɡɹi.si/ | viscido |
I phrasal verb che sentirai
| Parola | Significato |
|---|---|
| look down on verbo | guardare in basso |
| bring up verbo | menzionare, nominare |
| pass down verbo | passare |
| take up verbo | sollevare, prendere |
Frasi da ripetere
Frasi brevi e complete del video che puoi riutilizzare nella conversazione di tutti i giorni:
- See, I'm putting on a posh voice.
- You did, didn't you?
- We have a word for those sort of people, don't we?
- We might call these posh people toffs, mightn't we?
- What would you describe a toff as?
La grammatica di questo video
Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:
| Struttura | Nel video |
|---|---|
| Frasi condizionali if + frase, will/would + verbo — una condizione e il suo risultato | if that's true, or we'll put |
| “Used to” used to + verbo — un’abitudine o uno stato passato che non è più vero | used to go · used to use |
| Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adesso | have i done · have changed · I've heard |
| Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo fa | was taught · be called · was told |
Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione
Chi parla usa 131 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come don't, you're, I'm. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.
- I suoni “sh” e “zh”: traditionally /tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nə.li/, snobbish /ˈsnɒbɪʃ/, implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, conscious /ˈkɑn.ʃəs/
- Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: derogatory /dɪˈɹɑɡəˌtɔɹi/, traditionally /tɹəˈdɪʃ.ə.nə.li/, implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/, inheritance /ɪnˈhɛɹɪtəns/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/
I suoni difficili per chi parla italiano:
- /h/ — va soffiata, non è muta: handkerchief /ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf/, inheritance /ɪnˈhɛɹɪtəns/, behave /bɪˈheɪv/
- Consonante finale — senza aggiungere una vocale dopo: handkerchief /ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf/, accent /ækˈsɛnt/, privilege /ˈpɹɪv.(ɪ.)lɪd͡ʒ/, fascinate /ˈfæsɪneɪt/, educate /ˈɛd͡ʒ.əˌkeɪt/
- /æ/ — più aperta della “e”: handkerchief /ˈhæŋkəːt͡ʃɪf/, accent /ækˈsɛnt/, fascinate /ˈfæsɪneɪt/, podcast /ˈpɑdˌkæst/, vocabulary /vəˈkæb.jə.lə.ɹi/
Come esercitarsi con questo video
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- Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come handkerchief, accent, privilege.
Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?
Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.