Hoi polloi
Hoi polloi, is an expression from Greek that means
the many or, in the strictest sense,
the majority. In English, it means the working class, commoners, the masses or common people in a derogatory sense. Synonyms for hoi polloi, which also express the same or similar contempt for such people, include "the great unwashed", "the plebeians" or "plebs", "the rabble", "riffraff", "the herd", "the proles" and "peons". The phrase became known to English scholars probably from 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" 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. 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.