Which is more accepted: "hoi polloi", or "the hoi polloi"?

I've seen that both 'hoi polloi' and 'the hoi polloi' can be used. Does anyone know which is more accepted or correct? Or are they the same?

Solution 1:

In its definition of hoi polloi, M-W Unabridged notes:

Since hoi polloi is a transliteration of the Greek for “the many,” some critics have asserted that the phrase should not be preceded by the. They find “the hoi polloi” to be redundant, equivalent to “the the many”—an opinion that fails to recognize that hoi means nothing at all in English. Nonetheless, the opinion has influenced the omission of the in the usage of some writers.

But most writers use the, which is normal English grammar.

In its example usage sentences, M-W Unabridged gives examples of both usages:

"strain so hard in making their questions comprehensible to hoi polloi" — S. L. Payne

"burlesque performance … for the hoi polloi" — Henry Miller