# What is the origin of the term "the poors" all the hip journalists seem to be using these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100 "2015-10-09T23:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/1 "2015-10-09T23:45:03Z")
Where and when did this term arise? As used to describe poor people but with an “s” added to make it apply to the entire economic underclass. > **[Bobby Jindal Sticks It To Planned Parenthood By Screwing The Poors](https://www.wonkette.com/bobby-jindal-sticks-it-to-planned-parenthood-by-screwing-the-poors)** > > Poor Bobby Jindal. Not going to be president. Not going to make the first debate. Not even likely to stay in the primaries past South Carolina, assuming he gets that far. But maybe, if he can make some grand gestures, he'll capture the imagination of... > **[Rich People Flee from the Poors to Raise Their Families](https://jezebel.com/rich-people-flee-from-the-poors-to-raise-their-families-1447791051)** > > Apparently rich people only like living in economically diverse areas just for kicks — that is, until they start having kids. A recent analysis of census data indicates that the wealthy are twice as likely to relocate to more affluent neighborhoods... ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/2 "2015-10-10T00:22:49Z")
Atrios has been using it for years. I have no idea whether it originated with him. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/3 "2015-10-10T00:43:07Z")
Thought it was a mocking adoption of [Todd Kincannon’s horribly racist tweet](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/05/todd-kincannon-racist-twitter-south-carolina-republican-super-bowl_n_2622903.html) a couple years ago where he basically substituted “those poors” for the n-word. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/4 "2015-10-10T07:49:32Z")
I don’t know the answer, but I remember someone using that term on another message board (for a health disorder) during political discussions at least 8-9 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/5 "2015-10-11T10:40:21Z")
Here’s [an Atrios post from July 2012](http://www.eschatonblog.com/2012/07/free-money-for-rest-of-us.html) using the term. So it goes back at least that far. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/6 "2015-10-12T00:59:11Z")
> [@astro](#): > > As used to describe poor people but with an “s” added to make it apply to the entire economic underclass. “The poor” already did apply to the entire economic underclass. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/7 "2015-10-12T01:26:27Z")
I thought it was a callback to Victorian era novels. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/8 "2015-10-12T02:41:34Z")
So it’s UK English origin, interesting. I thought it was some US hipsterish wordplay. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-the-poors-all-the-hip-journalists-seem-to-be-using-these-days/734100/9 "2015-10-12T02:45:19Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I thought it was a callback to Victorian era novels. Yeah, it seems like an “ironic”, tongue-in-cheek way to generate the image of some old British guy with a monocle and waistcoat smacking starving orphans under his carriage with a gold-encrusted cane. AKA: Not likely to be spotted in the NYT.