The the hoi polloi

Professional journailists should, I suggest, know the English language well. To put it another way, they should avoid committing solecisms. To put it more simply still, they should not (through ignorance) write incorrectly, even if they want to use idioms of foreign origin.

"The worry is that after the aristocracy has feasted, 'there's little left for the hoi polloi'" So writes a 'city correspondent' in a highly respectable journal - and the editor has not corrected the error.

At least the phrase hoi polloi appears in italics, which is an acknowledgement that the phrase is of foreign origin. But anyone who knows his/her English should also know that this commonly used phrase (of Greek origin, but printed in lower case Roman style rather than Greek) means 'the many'. So to write or print "the 'hoi polloi" (as is not infrequently done) is the equivalent of writing "the the many"; and indicates ignorance on the part of the writer, and should surely attract editorial correction.

"Surely", you may say, "professional writers of English cannot be expected to know Greek". But if they don't know the meaning of a Greek phrase so commonly borrowed into our English language, then perhaps they should not attempt to use it.

The the hoi polloi