pleb common?

[TRex]

A few years ago (well, 13½ years ago — time flies), Alan explained why alit should not be common. According to the Ngram Viewer, pleb is even less common, outside of a spike at the end of the XIXth century which seems sufficiently long ago that it shouldn't be a factor. ISTM consistency should make pleb a rare word.

[Jacki]

It’s funny because in my household we use the word a fair bit, as in, what are the plebs doing (if we’re pretending to be high-faluting) etc. So for mine it’s definitely a word not only that I’ve heard of, but that I use. As for alit, I think it should be common. Whenever I play tail I immediately think of alit and then have to restrain myself from playing it. But as always, my experience isn’t everyone’s.

[matt]

I'd understand "alit" but never use it. If I were to talk about such things, I'd use "alighted".

"pleb" is a word I use so it feels common to me. I understand that this is subjective.

However it is much more likely to be used in the plural though, so although you can't have "plebs" you'd know "pleb" from it and the measure is people knowing it, not how often it is used (although there is often a correlation!)

If you look at "plebs" in the ngram viewer you'll see that it is used significantly more than "alit"

[rogue_mother]

I have never, that I remember, heard anyone say pleb or plebs. I think it must be more common in British speaking countries.

If one looks at the ngram viewer breakouts for British English versus American English, one sees that pleb is used twice as often in British English, and plebs is used fifty percent more often. Alit, however, occurs nearly twice as often in American English.

[Calilasseia]

Pleb is all too common here in the UK, not least because a Tory MP was caught using it as a slur ...

[cmh]

 A word I use often , usually in an ironic way. Would the US version be "trailor trash"?

[TRex]

A word I use often , usually in an ironic way. Would the US version be "trailor trash"?

Not being certain the connotation of pleb in the UK, it is difficult to say. In the US, from my pov, trailer trash is similar to poor white trash or even redneck. (I dislike all those terms and any terms which deny the inherent dignity of any human being.)

[pat]

In the UK the meaning is more or less the same as the word from which pleb is derived, namely plebeian, although I suspect that a lot of people who use it don't realize that.

[Ozzyjack]

I dislike all those terms and any terms which deny the inherent dignity of any human being.

I agree but I suspect our local equivalent, bogan is worn with a certain pride by some labelled with it.  I wonder if the same might apply to redneck.

[rogue_mother]

I agree but I suspect our local equivalent, bogan is worn with a certain pride by some labelled with it.  I wonder if the same might apply to redneck.

Yes, absolutely.

[TRex]

I agree but I suspect our local equivalent, bogan is worn with a certain pride by some labelled with it.  I wonder if the same might apply to redneck.

I'm sure it does — but as one of those labels which a person can claim, but one should never presume to use as a label for others.

[Ozzyjack]

but one should never presume to use as a label for others.

Touché

[Alan W]

TRex, there's a previous request of yours (from only 11 years ago, but so far unanswered) that is relevant. This was where you queried pleb being classed as common while plebe is rare.

According to my research, in contemporary publications, plebe(s) is much more frequently used in the US, while pleb(s) is much more common in most other places. I think it's appropriate to class pleb as rare from now on, and to leave plebe as rare.

Notwithstanding the case mentioned by Calilasseia, these terms are seemingly not often used as slurs nowadays, but more as a way of making fun of the toffs and tycoons. For example, this from the Times (UK) in March:

Thing is, to live the life of a Succession-style billionaire, you absolutely must not meet any plebs. Airports, though, are full of plebs. That is why the rich have private jets...

[Jacki]

Right. So pleb and plebe are rare?

[Alan W]

Correct