"the common people"

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Odessa Dawn

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"One is the “hasbara,” the paid “helpers” of the Israel lobby, who spread a feeling of despair and loss of faith, of hopelessness. Some are paid to suppress the vote, genuinely evil people, Malthusians, who believe that the common people are “useless eaters” who deserve death in wars, life in prison or daily slavery as long as they continue to profitably serve their masters."


Does "the common people" mean ordinary people although I don’t know what is meant by ordinary people?
 
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Gillnetter

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"One is the “hasbara,” the paid “helpers” of the Israel lobby, who spread a feeling of despair and loss of faith, of hopelessness. Some are paid to suppress the vote, genuinely evil people, Malthusians, who believe that the common people are “useless eaters” who deserve death in wars, life in prison or daily slavery as long as they continue to profitably serve their masters."



Does "the common people" mean ordinary people although I don’t know what is meant by ordinary people?
Yes, common and ordinary mean the same here. There are many people in the world and most of them are ordinary people. Ordinary people are people who are not (among other things) overly rich or talented in any area. The opposite of an ordinary person is an extraordinary person. The president or a country would not be called ordinary - he/she would be called extraordinary. Think of ordinary this way - every day you eat about the same things. You eat some meat, some vegetables and, maybe a dessert. On certain days you have a feast. The food you eat at a feast is much better than the usual (ordinary) food that you normally eat. The same is true of people. You meet people every day and most of these people are ordinary (nothing special about them). Sometimes you meet a person who is not ordinary. This person is a great singer, or a poet, or a good leader. This person is extraordinary.
 
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TheParser

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Hello,


Many years ago, a famous American judge said something like: I cannot define "pornography," but I know pornography when I see it."

Well, I cannot define "ordinary person," but I see one every morning in the mirror.

I am a nobody.

I am one of the masses.

I am a brick in the wall. (This line comes from a song.)

If I go to a baseball game, I must use the public restroom. (Non-ordinary people watch the game from private boxes equipped with kitchens and restrooms.)

If I decide to attend the Oscars (for best movies), I must stand on the sidewalk and wave to the movie stars, who are the
only ones allowed on the red carpet.

If I take an airplane, I am stuck in a tube full of other people. (Non-ordinary people fly comfortably in business class that gives them plenty of leg space -- not to mention delicious food.)

If political leaders want advice, they do not come to me, for they do not know that I even exist. (They get advice from non-ordinary people, such as university professors, newspaper publishers, financiers, religious leaders.)

And when I die, it will not be news in the newspaper -- unless a relative pays for a small little announcement on the back page.

That is what an ordinary person is.


James
 

JarekSteliga

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Perhaps some people following this thread will be interested to learn that English word "ordinary" found its way into Polish language and functions there under a slightly altered form "ordynarny". If the spelling changed a little, the meaning changed significantly as the adjective "ordynarny" in contrast to the English neutral "ordinary" is anything but neutral, and rather strongly pejorative, meaning "vulgar".

One wonders how could this pejorative meaning survive the reign of two mortal foes in Poland, Communists and Catholics whose doctrines on "ordinary" seem to coincide (sic!) in portraying "the ordinary" as magnificent :-?.
 

Tdol

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In Portuguese, ordinário can mean vulgar, and I think it can in Spanish too.
 

charliedeut

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In Portuguese, ordinário can mean vulgar, and I think it can in Spanish too.

Indeed (but without the accent over the 'a'). :up:

PS: It can also mean that in Catalan, by the way.
 
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