h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Never say never...

Even if the origin might not be an acronym, the term posh was applied to those who travelled Port Out, Starboard Home (from the UK to India and back)

Myth! Myth! (Gnomon sticks his neck out).

Myth! Myth! supports him

Hope your wearing your mufflers

I too suspect that the origins of the term posh are shrouded with myth(s), however...

My father and his parents sailed from India after the events of 1947 and much to the (possibly eternal) irritation of my late grandmother, they travelled *Port Home* whereas their more affluent neighbours managed to pull some strings and score a *Starboard Home* cabin, a story she regaled us with more than once, invariably inferring that some well funded and well aimed baksheesh was responsible

So, in those eccentric circles at least, posh *came to be* an acronym, regardless of it's origins...

Sort of like Lombard: loads of money but a real dick

How about this for Rag;

a ragamuffin, a begger.

Alji (Member of The Guild of Wizards @ U197895)

Offering nothing further on the origins, I still have to point out that over the years "rag" has had some very unpleasant associations of meaning. Every time the word comes up I keep expecting (even hoping) someone might mention these, but perhaps they really are in such bad taste after all, that only I dare broach this area.

So be it:
Before modern notions of hygiene and healthcare, rags were considered state of the art in both first-aid and long-term treatment for wounds, running sores and even amputations. They could be used to stop blood, to cover poxes and leprosy, as slings for broken limbs and even as cachets for poultices and medications like cloves for toothache (as witnessed by 20th century cartoonists who depicted the victim of toothache with a rag tied round his jaws and over his head).
All these uses would eventually evolve into modern bandages, tourniquets, medicated gauze and even swabs and other hygiene products. Possibly including the turban, bog roll/wet wipes and the .

I believe the expression 'toe-rag' is still used around the Coronation Street area of Manchester to imply the most unsavoury sort of character.

Whoa is me
~jwf~

There was a character called Toerag in the second Dirk Gently book. I always wondered why the nurse frowned disapprovingly at his name.

I was (still am) curious about the use of the word rag in the context of newspapers, particularly the tabloid variety, so I went a-googling and found some sites:
http://www.hyperdictionary.com where almost every word is a hyperlink
http://eleaston.com/world-eng.html , which has sections on a host of *Englishes* (American, Australian, British, Canadian, Caribbean, Indian, Irish, New Zealand, Nigerian, Philippines, Scots, Singaporean, South African and Welsh)

and, offering *almost* an expalnation

http://www.hemp.on.net/final_folder/about_us/what_weve_done/campaigns/industrial_env/urbecocan.html

Until 1883, from 75-90% of the world¹s paper was hemp based "rag paper"; including books, (The Gutenberg and King James Bible¹s from the 15th & 17th centuries), maps, paper money, stocks, bonds, newspapers etc. Even the first two drafts of the American Declaration of Independence were produced on (Dutch) hemp paper.


six7's

The American Declaration of Independence was printed on hemp?

I demand the right to toke the 5th amendment

How come we have both 'tomorrow' and 'morrow' both meaning the same thing (to me anyway!). Is 'tomorrow' actually 'to-morrow' and if so, where does the 'to' come from, since morrow is used with 'on', i.e. "I'll be cleaning the car on the morrow" or "I'll see you on the morrow".

So what's the 'to' bit doing? That'd make "I'll do the cleaning tomorrow" mean that the 'morrow' is the object of the cleaning exercise when it is actually merely the time at which it will occur.

I had a look in a couple of dictionaries but they made it about as clear as mud!

http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/to , which being composed almost entirely of hyperlinks presents certain problems regarding copy and paste ... anyhow...

To in to-day, to-night, and to-morrow has the sense or force of for or on;
for, or on, (this) day,
for, or on, (this) night,
for, or on, (the) morrow.

To-day, to-night, to-morrow may be considered as compounds, and usually as adverbs; but they are sometimes used as nouns;
as, to-day is ours.


How's the visibility now <?>

Ah! I see

So tomorrow = on the morrow
At some point to = on the (or something) so everyone said to morrow which then ended up as a word on its own. But at the same time we have kept the word morrow and still use the 'on the' format with it as 'to' no longer means that. So it's a kind of duplication.

Jolly good, one more mystery explained Ta!

But "morrow" really means morning, not tomorrow morning. In archaic speak you could say "Good Morrow".

!

Gnomon, you are saying that morrow = morning? So how come it now means (well to me!) the next day? Is not the archaic of morning 'morn' or some derivation of anglo saxon since morning is close to morgen I assume both german and english words come from a common root.

And how come tomorrow means the next day and not the next morning? Or has this evolved over the centuries, with people learning by experience that when a plumber / builder says they'll be there on the morrow that they don't mean 'the next morning' but rather 'some indeterminate time between sunrise on the next day and sunset on the same'? Could it be that we can actually identify the sector of society responsible for the change in meaning of one of our words?!

Spiff, are you ing at the smiley or some other unintentional funny?

morrow = morning ... v, interesting... similar to manyana in Spanish... manyana manyana = tomorrow morning




Man, that 5th is good

I'm sorry, there really should be more punctuation in my last post. Please distribute the following as you feel suitable.

.....,,,,,;;;;;-----

"I'll do it in the morning" means tomorrow morning. This is an example where the word "morning" means the future. It is the same with "morrow". But somehow, tomorrow morning stretches longer and longer until it can be any time tomorrow.

Nope, sorry, still confused!

So morrow = morning or morrow != morning? or are you saying that tomorrow in olde worlde speake = tomorrow morning in modern english?