| Origin/etymology | Greek |
|---|---|
| Meaning | "the many" |
The English expression the hoi polloi (/ˌhɔɪ pəˈlɔɪ/; from Ancient Greek οἱ πολλοί (hoi polloí) 'the many') was borrowed from Ancient Greek, where it means "the many" or, in the strictest sense, "the people". In English, it has been given a negative connotation to signify the common people.[1] Synonyms for hoi polloi include "the plebs" (plebeians), "the rabble", "the masses", "the great unwashed", "the riffraff", and "the proles" (proletarians).[2]
Interestingly, there is also widespread spoken use of the term in the opposite sense to refer denigratingly to elites that is common among middle-class and lower income people in several English-speaking countries and regions, including at least Australia, North America, and Scotland since at least the 1950s.[1][3]
The phrase probably became known to English scholars through Pericles' Funeral Oration, as mentioned in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles uses it in a positive way when praising the Athenian democracy, contrasting it with hoi oligoi, "the few" (Greek: οἱ ὀλίγοι; see also oligarchy).[4]
Its current English usage originated in the early 19th century, a time when it was generally accepted that one must be familiar with Greek and Latin in order to be considered well educated.[5][6] The phrase was originally written in Greek letters.[7][8][9] Knowledge of these languages served to set apart the speaker from hoi polloi in question, who were not similarly educated.[7]
- ^ a b "hoi polloi". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 17 August 2018. We first heard of this [new, opposite] sense [("the elites")] in the early 1950s, when it was reported to be well established in spoken use in such diverse locales as central New Jersey, southern California, Cleveland, Ohio, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Several members of our editorial staff at that time also testified to its common occurrence, and evidence in the years since strongly suggests that this sense of hoi polloi continues to be frequently used in speech. We do not know for certain how this new sense originated, but one possibility is that it developed out of the inherent snobbery of hoi polloi. In its original and primary sense, hoi polloi is a term used by snobs or—more often—in mocking imitation of snobs. Even its sound has a quality of haughtiness and condescension (much like that of hoity-toity, a term that underwent a similar extension of meaning in the 20th century, from its former sense, "frivolous," to its current sense, "marked by an air of superiority"). It may be that people unfamiliar with the meaning of hoi polloi, but conscious of its strong associations with snobbery, misunderstood it as an arrogant term for the haves rather than a contemptuous term for the have-nots, thus giving rise to its newer, contradictory sense.
- ^ "hoi polloi". Roget's New Millennium Thesaurus. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20201125052921/https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/blog/article/155/
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 2.34-46: "καὶ ὄνομα μὲν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐς ὀλίγους ἀλλ᾿ ἐς πλείονας οἰκεῖν δημοκρατία κέκληται " ("It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few").
- ^ Rexine, John E. (September–October 1978). Review of The Scientist's Thesaurus: A Treasury of the Stock Words of Science by George F. Steffanides. Vol. 62. p. 291.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ "British studies: the eighteenth century, a guide to topics in the Michigan state university libraries' collections". July 15, 2003. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
- ^ a b "The Maven's Word of the Day". Random House. November 13, 1998. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
- ^ Editors of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition "Blue plate special"; how to use "hoi polloi; "Peck's Bad Boy October 28, 2003, Jewish World Review.
- ^ Lord Byron Lord Byron's Letters and Journals Archived 2005-12-19 at the Wayback Machine November 24, 1813.