The Great Unwashed
The English expression "(the) hoi polloi" () was borrowed from Ancient Greek (οἱ πολλοί), 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. Synonyms for hoi polloi include "the plebs" (plebeians), "the rabble", "the masses", "the great unwashed", "the riffraff", and "the proles" (proletarians).
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. However, this use is often considered incorrect.
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).
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 to be considered well educated. The phrase was originally written in Greek letters. Knowledge of these languages served to set apart the speaker from hoi polloi in question, who were not similarly educated.
Similar Artists