The Hoi Polloi

There was an eagerly keen schoolboy, Who when used the Greek term ‘hoi polloi’, His teacher, a pedant-- A kind of stinging ant, Corrected it to ‘the hoi polloi’; Sir, my apology, Ain't it tautology? No, use grammar, boys as would a toy! ___________________________________________ In Greek, hoi polloi means ‘the people’. Thus, hoi is the article ‘the’, and when we say ‘the hoi polloi’ which is the way the expression is used in English, there doubtless is tautology. But usage determines grammar, not the other way around. Further, when we say ‘eagerly keen’, there too is some tautology as well. Further, the word pedant comes from French and Italian, and perhaps from Greek ‘pais’, whose teacher is called pedagogue. Pedant earlier meant only a teacher, but later on acquired its today’s meaning: one who lays excessive stress upon trifling details of knowledge. My fellow poets might have sometimes faced comments that border on being pedantic. ______________________________________________________ Ways of words |04.06.2020| Topic: humour, school, boy, teacher, apology, tautology