Greek working class

Hoi polloi (Ancient Greek: οἱ πολλοί, hoi polloi, "the many"), is an expression from Greek that means the many or, in the strictest sense, the majority. In English, it has been corrupted by giving it 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. Synonyms for hoi polloi, which also express the same or similar distaste for the common people felt by those who believe themselves to be superior, include "the great unwashed", "the plebeians" or "plebs", "the rabble", "the dregs of society", "riffraff", "the herd", "the proles" (proletariat) and "peons".^[1]

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)^[2]

The phrase has three different pronunciations:

• English speakers pronounce it /ˌhɔɪ pəˈlɔɪ/.
• Ancient Greek speakers pronounced it [hoi polloi˨˦]. Double-λ is pronounced as such.
• Modern Greek speakers pronounce it [i poˈli] since in Modern Greek there is no voiceless glottal /h/ phoneme and οι is pronounced [i] (all Ancient Greek diphthongs are now pronounced as monophthongs). Greek Cypriots still pronounce the double-λ ([i polˈli]).^[9]