| 释义 |
‖ hoi polloi|hɔɪ ˈpɒlɔɪ; also pəˈlɔɪ|
[Gr. οἱ πολλοί, lit. ‘the many’.]
The majority; the masses. Also formerly in Univ. slang, candidates for a pass degree.
In English use normally preceded by the definite article even though hoi means ‘the’.
[1668Dryden Dram. Poesie 65 If by the people you understand the multitude, the οἱ πολλοὶ. 1791[see poll n.3]. c1821–2Byron in Lett. (1830) I. 633 [We] put on masques, and went on the stage with the οἱ πολλοι. ]1837J. F. Cooper Europe II. 94 After which the oi polloi are enrolled as they can find interest. 1855Read & Reflect i. 60 The hoi polloi [of Mauritius], as we say at Oxford, are mindless—all blank. 1895Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable (new ed.) 613/1 Hoi Polloi (the), the poll-men in our Universities, that is, those who take their degrees without ‘honours’. 1905Daily Chron. 29 Aug. 4/4 A couple of immense swells..staring stiffly at ‘hoy-polloy’. 1932F. L. Wright Autobiogr. (1945) iii. 256 Now it all ended in this triumph for them, hoi-polloi, rag, tag, and bobtail. |