minow (03/08/83)
As noted, it means "Port Outbound, Starboard Homebound". The reason was this puts the stateroom on the North side of the ship during the entire voyage. This would be significantly cooler than the sunny South side. (Outbound was Easterly from England to Africa, India, and the Orient.) Martin Minow decvax!minow
porges (03/13/83)
#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.
otto (03/17/83)
I believe the old term for port was "larboard," not hardboard! George Otto Bell Labs, Indian Hill ----------------------