The most important thing about being posh is to have a posh accent. This often involves speaking with a slow drawl, and making your vowels as long as possible (see our Accent Alert article for more information on this). In class-divided Britain, people can immediately tell how posh you are from your accent. In fact, the writer George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.”
Posh people have also been to the “right” school. This means one of England’s top public schools. In fact, the school you went to is very important. Top of the list of acceptable schools for posh people are Eton, Rugby, Harrow and Marlborough. Some of the other public schools are OK, but may be referred to as “MPSIA” (minor public school, I’m afraid).