[Vocabulary] How common is the word "plebby" in modern English?

[Mehrgan]

Hello,

Beside the question in the title, is the word "yobbish" a good synonym?

 

[jutfrank]

Very uncommon, and no.

 

[Mehrgan]

Thanks. Is there any common (informal) word, then, to refer to such people, especially in British English?

 

[GoesStation]

I've never seen "plebby" before. I guess "yobbish" might be British slang for "acting like a yob," where "yob" is (I think) British slang for "thuggish young man". I've never seen it before, either.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thanks. Is there any common (informal) word, then, to refer to such people, especially in British English?

I don't know. What's a plebby?

 

[jutfrank]

I don't know. What's a plebby?

The noun 'pleb' is a very derogatory way for those people from the British upper classes to refer to those people from the lower class. It's derived from the Roman 'plebeian'. The word 'plebby' appears to be an adjective form of this word.

 

[Mehrgan]

Which people?

Those who are not from the same socio-economic class?
Those who speak with the 'wrong' accent?
Those who did not go to an exclusive school?
Those who piss in the bathroom/loo/toilet rather than the lavatory?
Those who earn considerably less than I do?
Those who mug little old ladies?

Those who perhaps don't mean to act and behave that way but, given the familial and social context they come from, they may not be aware of some rules, etiquette or so on.

 

[Tdol]

I've heard pleb used, not plebby. I would be very careful about using the word- you might get yourself punched out. It's a class equivalent to casual racism.

 

[Mehrgan]

I've heard pleb used, not plebby. I would be very careful about using the word- you might get yourself punched out. It's a class equivalent to casual racism.

Point taken. Thanks. I just needed the right word when talking about someone as described above. And my last question, I hope, would be about 'boorish'. I was wondering if this is what I was looking for.

 

[Tarheel]

Somebody who is boorish acts as if he has no manners.

 

[probus]

The noun 'pleb' is a very derogatory way for those people from the British upper classes to refer to those people from the lower class. It's derived from the Roman 'plebeian'. The word 'plebby' appears to be an adjective form of this word.

Plebian is very much an English word. The Latin word is plebs meaning the common people, i.e. those who were neither senators nor aristocrats. Anyone who thinks plebs is the plural of pleb is deluded (or perhaps just ignorant.)

 

[probus]

Somebody who is boorish acts as if he has no manners.

That would be a yob in BrE, I believe, not a pleb.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Those who perhaps don't mean to act and behave that way but, given the familial and social context they come from, they may not be aware of some rules, etiquette or so on.

Those who don't mean to act and behave what way?

 

[Tdol]

That would be a yob in BrE, I believe, not a pleb.

Yobs are hooligans/thugs, etc. You can be boorish without being a yob, which carries an undercurrent of violence for me.