Hoi polloi

[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.

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.

[14][15] The first recorded use by Cooper occurs in his 1837 work Gleanings in Europe where he writes "After which the oi polloi are enrolled as they can find interest.

I should place Rogers next in the living list (I value him more as the last of the best school) —Moore and Campbell both third—Southey and Wordsworth and Coleridge—the rest, οι πολλοί [hoi polloi in Greek].

"[19] In Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Thomas De Quincey uses the term during a passage discussing which of the English classes is most proud, noting "... the children of bishops carry about with them an austere and repulsive air, indicative of claims not generally acknowledged, a sort of noli me tangere manner, nervously apprehensive of too familiar approach, and shrinking with the sensitiveness of a gouty man from all contact with the οι πολλοι.

In his autobiography written in the 1870s, Darwin recalled that "By answering well the examination questions in Paley, by doing Euclid well, and by not failing miserably in Classics, I gained a good place among the οἱ πολλοί, or crowd of men who do not go in for honours.

)Gilbert's parallel use of canaille, plebs (plebeians), and hoi polloi makes it clear that the term is derogatory of the lower classes.

In many versions of the vocal score, it is written as "οἱ πολλοί", likely confusing generations of amateur choristers who couldn't read Greek.

For example, one of the earliest short films from the Three Stooges, Hoi Polloi (1935), opens in an exclusive restaurant where two wealthy gentlemen are arguing whether heredity or environment is more important in shaping character.

The Lovin' Spoonful's song "Jug Band Music" includes the line: "He tried to mooch a towel from the hoi polloi."

In the song "Risingson" on Massive Attack's Mezzanine album, the singer apparently appeals to his company to leave the club they're in, deriding the common persons' infatuation with them, and implying that he's about to slide into antisocial behaviour: Toy-like people make me boy-like (...) And everything you got, hoi polloi like Now you're lost and you're lethal And now's about the time you gotta leave all

[27]In an episode of This American Life, radio host Ira Glass uses the term hoi polloi while relaying a story about a woman who believes the letter 'q' should occur later in the alphabet.

[29] In the first scene of The PlayStation ad "Double Life," a British man says, "In the day, I do my job, I ride the bus, Roll up my sleeves with the Hoi polloi".

[citation needed] The Scottish punk rock band Oi Polloi were named from a pun of the Greek phrase.

[citation needed] The August 14, 2001 episode of CNN's Larry King Live program included a discussion about whether the sport of polo was an appropriate part of the image of the British Royal Family.

"[30]The term appears in the 2003 Broadway musical Wicked, where it is used by the characters Elphaba and Glinda to refer to the many inhabitants of the Emerald City: "...

On 9 December 2004 he retracted his statement, saying "And hoi-polloi refers to common people, not those rich morons that are evicting those two red-tail hawks (ph) from that fifth Avenue co-op.

"[33] In "Sunk Costs" (season 3 episode 3) of Better Call Saul, Jimmy has been arrested and the DDA (Oakley) teases him "getting fingerprinted with the hoi polloi".

(season 4 episode 3) of BoJack Horseman, Princess Carolyn (in the hopes of making a celebrity actress more relatable to the public) orders a press release to be prepared, stating "Portnoy finds joy in hoi polloi boy toy", referring to Todd as a "down-to-earth boring nobody".

[citation needed] Cellar Darling uses the expression as the lyrical hook in the song The Hermit from their debut album This Is the Sound.

As described by the Pittsburgh Dish, the name "Hoi Polloi" may be chosen to indicate that the brand or service will appeal to the "common people".