Hoi Polloi

Geoffrey S. Nathan an6993 at WAYNE.EDU
Thu Aug 3 14:09:09 UTC 2006


This may be coincidence, but my mother (born in London within sound of
Beau's Bells) always used 'hoi polloi' to mean upper crust, and was
quite surprised to hear that its 'correct' meaning was the reverse.
She, alas, is no longer around to ask about this.

Geoff

--
Geoffrey S. Nathan <geoffnathan at wayne.edu>

Faculty Liaison, Computing and Information Technology,
and Associate Professor of English, Linguistics Program
Phone Numbers (313) 577-1259 or (313) 577-8621
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI, 48202

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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