Plural of alec, a word for a herring or a foolish person, used in British slang or fish-trade terminology.
From Old English 'alec' or 'alek,' possibly related to herring preservation and trade. The slang sense meaning 'fool' may derive from rhyming slang or occupational mockery of herring fishermen.
The word 'alec' bridges food history and social mockery—calling someone an 'alec' might reference how herring were preserved in salt, or it could mock people working in the smelly fish trade, showing how occupation and insult got tangled in language.
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