Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) a position, a situation.

1862		O.W. Norton Army Letters (1903) 113: Snorting their impatience to ‘get into posish,’ came the Monitor, the Galena and others [DA].
1864		Moulton letter in Drickamer Fort Lyon to Harper’s Ferry (1987) 174: I am now occupying the responsible ‘posish’ of Head Clerk.
1879		Idaho Semi-Wkly World (ID) 14 Jan. 3/2: The newly elected county officers are secure in their posish.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 21 Feb. 12/3: The man who used to hawk his fish / Has in the Lands a fine ‘posish.’.
1890		A.C. Gunter Miss Nobody of Nowhere 96: Oh, it’s Flossie you’re driving at. Madame Lamher’s fixing up her educash. She’ll be hardly ready to take up her pos-sish in society till next fall.
1896		Banner-Democrat (Lake Provience, LA) 31 Oct. 3/1: He has got the posish, and he don’t care a continental.
1897		Mirror of Life 24 Feb. 3/1: To make its ‘posish’ in this land secure / This new Belphegor gives a British roar;.
1901		J. Flynt World of Graft 199: I’d ask the people straight out exactly what they wanted, an’ I’d give ’em exactly what they asked for, or t’row up the posish.
1915		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Within Their Incomes’ Sporting Times 9 Jan. 1/2: To her he hadn’t mentioned his subordinate ‘posish,’ / But he’d posed as one of lofty pedigree.
1921		Cook Co. News-Herald (MN) 9 June 4/2: Everybody gotta posish but no ambish.
1923		Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves 52: Well, that’s the posish.
1947		J. Maclaren-Ross Of Love And Hunger 123: ‘D’you mean there’s only one other sales-man in this territory besides me?’ ‘That’s the posish.’.
1954		Wodehouse Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 103: This is the posish.
1960		Wodehouse Jeeves in the Offing 128: So you see the posish.
1995		J. Stahl Permanent Midnight 25: Janine sneered, never happier than when perched in a posish of high moral authority.