Is there such a phrase as "posh lolly"

[LainieK]

I heard this somewhere to mean a sexually attractive woman who is also from the upper classes. Did I hear correctly? If not, is there a similar phrase you could share? It's intriguing, we have no such phrase in "American". Thank you.

[SepticTone]

I think you misheard, Lainie. The description is " Posh Totty". Totty connotes a lady who is rather more than sexually attractive, btw., in a very Anglo-Saxon way, if you know what I mean. Most females would rather resent being labelled 'totty'. As in, as we say: " That's a nice piece of totty". Substitute a suitable US monosyllabic adjective yourself.

Ironic that 'Posh Spice' was nicknamed 'posh', although she isn't from the upper class, merely being the only one of the Spice Girls who got a GCSE.

A perfect example of posh totty is, or was, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. She has all the right credentials, close links with the Royal Family, etc., & has had more baronets than dave c's had hot potatoes.

Allegedly.

This is Posh Totty, British style, & you don't get much posher than being featured in 'Tatler':

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar ... party.html

[LainieK]

Thank you thank you - it was really bugging me as I knew I had heard something like this and just felt I had it wrong. At 13 and again at 17 my family lived in Wales and England, so I have a lot of fun memories about British slang and speech in general. We just loved living there. I think this phrase was used in conjunction with good-looking female chefs like Nigella Lawson. Would she qualify as posh totty?

[SepticTone]

You are most welcome, Lainie, oh & also welcome to the forum.

Nigella Lawson is definitely Posh Totty, as she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, being the daughter of the spectacularly unsuccessful and rabidly right-wing Nigel Lawson, a Thatcherite Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 80's, who is sadly, still alive. His crazy financial policies in government virtually brought the country to its knees. He is Baron Lawson of Blaby, thus an inherited-title Upper Class type. Therefore she is Posh. Her accent gives it away, but probably only British people can guess one's background from one's accent.

She is Totty also, for obvious reasons, if you've ever watched any of her cooking programmes on TV.

Nothing wrong with her: she's a lovely, highly intelligent, highly educated lady who is also very sexy & an excellent cook.

It's sad that her first husband had to have his tongue amputated in an attempt to halt his throat cancer, which ultimately killed him, as he wasn't able to taste her fabulous food during the last years of his life. No joke intended. He sometimes appeared on her TV programmes.

Happily for her, though, she's now remarried (to Lord Saatchi, btw... a fabulously wealthy Upper Class Art Person, oh, & a Lord.... you see, that's how the Establishment here perpetuates itself).

[davec]

Americanese has a related phrase, dripping with jealousy, and probably about as unwelcome as 'totty' as it begins with 'rich' and rhymes.

I had no idea there were that many baronets. I know about 9% of the British population have been knighted by now (well, almost 9%), but that's a gobsmacking load of baronets, I must say (**burp**).

At least they all have something in common to talk about. And as Oscar Wilde said, "the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about".

Welcome to the forum.

[SepticTone]

"9% of the British population have been Knighted"

Current British population: c. 62,000,000.

9% of them, umm, c. 5,580,000.

5 and a half million Knights? That's a lot of Knights, dave. One hell of a potential army there, old boy!

As a knighthood is only for life, & not hereditary, & every knighthood is personally conferred by the Queen, that'd mean that over her 60 years of rule, she'd be knighting people at the rate of 92,000 a year, or 7639 a month, or 1910 a week or 273 a day, or 11 an hour, assuming she did it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

I suspect you're mistaking a Knighthood for a hereditary title dating back to the Norman Invasion of 1066, augmented by the new Lords invested by Henry VIII in medieval times, as in Baron, Baronet, Lord, etc. There's only about 400 of those, max., plus their inbred offspring. So the aristocracy is still a fairly exclusive club over here.

So.

I suspect your figures were supplied by the same American Bureau of Disinformation who assured the US public that the UK's National Health System had "Death Panels", who killed old people because they were too old & expensive to keep, that vital free drugs were denied to people who weren't economically active, & all the other ludicrous lies promulgated by the US anti-universal health care lobby & insurance companies.

All these incredible lies were reported over here to a frankly open-mouthed British Public, whose love of the NHS daren't even be tampered with by even the most mental swivel-eyed extremists of the Tory Party here.

Oh, btw: A Happy & Peaceful Christmas to all of you out there!

[davec]

I was just being a complete Seppock (new slang term?) on that one--random hyperbole for the helluvit. And look at the comic image you've conjured up with a little quick math!

Happy holidays to all.

[SepticTone]

Seppock. I like it!

I'll use it down the pub on Boxing Day on one of my mates.

However much of a seppock you are, dave, I think you may be onto something.

Imagine the Queen going on telly tomorrow saying:

" OK OK, the first 5.5 million guys signing up on my website get to be knighted by email. You get a free horse, suit of armour, big sharp sword, a flag of your own design & a spear. Oh, & you get to sign your letters as 'Sir'. ( Sir SepticTone... sounds good. )

Downside is, we'll send you to Afghanistan immediately. Take it or leave it. "...............

Plus side:
Imagine five and a half million knights in armour on armoured horseback tearing across the Afghan plains, all shouting 'God Save the Queen!'. Only the ones on the outside'd get taken down by IEDs, but I bet those ragheads'd soon throw in their towels, as it were.

We'd have to produce 5.5 million new horses, thus stimulating the animal husbandry industry & providing a secure job for Kate.

We'd have to produce 5.5 million suits of armour, swords & spears, thus stimulating the manufacturing sector ( no, we wouldn't get them from China, even though they'd be cheaper).

We'd have to build thousands of big ships or planes to move em over there, further stimulating the economy.

End result: no more terrorists left, as they'd all be speared or very frightened at the very least, global economy re-stimulated, local Afghan agriculture restructured ( horses eat a lot of carrots, I think).

I think the Americans devised a similar plan halfway through the Second World War ( It started in 1939, btw, Americans, not in 1941 ), & their economy in 1946 was in a much healthier state than it was in 1941, even though there weren't quite as many of them left as in 1941.

I'll email this to the Queen's website, in her Suggestions Box.

[davec]

You should have been an economist, ST.

Anyroad, getting at least marginally back on track, 'posh totty' is probably less offensive taken as is, than it is assuming it's actually intended as a Spoonerism...

[LainieK]

Gentlemen - Thank you both for all the facts (and some rather specious ones). One more question - can an American be posh totty? I was thinking about Padma Lakshmi - who married an Indian-born Brit, Salman Rushdie. She is certainly posh and pretty.

Wishing all of you an exciting and prosperous 2010!