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Wednesday December 15, 2004

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hoi polloi \hoi-puh-LOI\ , noun:
The common people generally; the masses.

Lizzie insisted that her children distinguish themselves from the hoi polloi by scrupulous honesty.
-- Kate Buford, Burt Lancaster: An American Life

The exchange of roles in "The Prince and the Pauper" suggests that a man of the people can be a benevolent ruler because of his humble roots, that a prince can become a better ruler through exposure to hoi polloi.
-- Michiko Kakutani, "In Classic Children's Books, Is a Witch Ever Just a Witch?", New York Times, December 22, 1992

America's cereal queen [Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post Cereal fortune] had the same problems that the hoi polloi have -- philandering husbands, messy divorces, soggy Grape-Nuts.
-- Maureen Dowd, "Rich Little Rich Girl", New York Times, February 12, 1995

Hoi polloi is Greek for "the many."

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for hoi polloi

 

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