POSH - "classy and elegant"
This was used in the days when british officials and their families traveled to and from India on steam ships. Their tickets were stamped with "POSH" which meant "Port Out, Starboard Home". This ensured accommodations on the cooler side of the ship both ways.
KNOW THE ROPES - "Skill and experience"
The riggings in a square-rigged ship was a complex network of cordage. The ropes were used to hoist, lower, and trim sails. In this complicated system, each of the hundreds of pieces had a name and function. Running aloft as well as fore and aft, each rope was secured to a belaying pin and identified by its position of the rails running the length of the ship. The mastery of this complex system separated old salts from "Johnny Raws". It was considered so important that discharge papers were once marked "KNOW THE ROPES", thus known as an honorable discharge.
RIG (style of dress)
From the Middle English word rig (to bind or wrap) the rig of a ship denotes the masts, spars, stays, or rigging and the sails that drive the ship. The particular arrangement of the masts and sails differentiates types of vessels such as ship, bark, brig, schooner, sloop, etc., regardless of hull design.
SHIP (an object that can be navigated)
From the Middle English word "schip" (boat), the word is applied in a metaphorical sense to various objects that can be navigated through an obstacle course to a place of safety, strength, or accomplishment.
