Monthly Archives: October 2008
For the masses
Merrill Perlman has another good Language Corner article this week, on the meaning, origins and misconceptions of hoi polloi:
“Hoi polloi” is a Greek term—“hoi” for “the” and “polloi” for “many”—and it’s been used in English since at least the 1600s to mean “the masses.” (It’s not, however, directly related to the roots of our words “poll” and “politics.”)
In the Windy City
I’m headed to Chicago today with my wife for a book reading and signing by Neil Gaiman and won’t be posting anything new until Monday. But here are a few things I’ve read recently that were interesting:
- John McIntyre on Things that Make Us [sic], a new book by Martha Brockenbroug, head of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.
- The Editrix on Congress’ attempts to make the bailout more palatable by changing its name.
- Craig Lancaster on two words (among many) that seem to trip up newspaper writers.
- Slate diagrams Sarah Palin’s sentences. It’s really not fair — even the writer admits diagramming is more for written sentences than spoken ones — but it is interesting.
