οἱ πολλοί: Difference between revisions

|Definition=[[commons]], [[hoi polloi]], [[most people]], [[peons]], [[people in general]], [[plebs]], [[proletariat]], [[riffraff]], [[sheeple]], [[the canaille]], [[the common herd]], [[the common people]], [[the common run of people]], [[the commonalty]], [[the commons]], [[the crowd]], [[the dregs of society]], [[the generality of people]], [[the great unwashed]], [[the greater number]], [[the herd]], [[the majority]], [[the many]], [[the masses]], [[the multitude]], [[the peasantry]], [[the people]], [[the plebeians]], [[the plebs]], [[the proles]], [[the proletariat]], [[the public]], [[the rabble]], [[the rank-and-file]], [[the riffraff]], [[the vulgar]], [[the working class]]. Hoi polloi (Greek: οἱ πολλοί, hoi polloi, "the many") is an expression from Greek that means the many or, in the strictest sense, the people. In English, it has been given a negative connotation to signify deprecation of the working class, commoners, the masses or common people in a derogatory or (more often today) ironic sense.

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A frase tornou-se conhecida por estudiosos ingleses, provavelmente a partir da Oração Fúnebre de Péricles, como mencionada na obra História da Guerra do Peloponeso de Tucídides, Péricles usa o termo como uma forma de elogiar a democracia ateniense, contrastando com hoi oligoi, "os poucos" (οἱ ὀλίγοι).