4 ms·

I've always understood "folks" to mean parents. Not sure I understand how this is a better term.

johnny22 4y ago
Folks has been used to describe a group of people in the southern US for a long time. In pop culture it was used like that by Porky Pig at the end of Looney Toons with "That's all, Folks!" (i couldn't remember the how the stutter goes though)
nkurz 4y ago
I think your understanding is mistaken, or at least regional. While it can mean "parents" when used in the plural with a possessive ("my folks", "your folks", sometimes even "the folks"), in modern American English it's as commonly just a synonym for "people". Using "folks" (especially in the plural) to mean people can be rather "folksy", though, and I wouldn't be too surprised if some textbook or dictionary mentioned just the "parent" definition. Did you learn it this way as a second language, or as a native speaker somewhere non-American?
mdoms 4y ago
Being asked to use "folks" in Australia was frankly bizarre. It's not a word anyone uses over there and would be considered a severe Americanism. Pretty sure that suggestion came from our Texas staff, not the Californians.
- reaperducer 4y ago
  Pretty sure that suggestion came from our Texas staff, not the Californians. Fortunately, Austin isn't representative of the majority of Texas, or America. It's like Portland, but with better weather. (Just last week I learned that "Keep Austin Weird" predates "Keep Portland Weird" by five years.)
deathanatos 4y ago
Depends on context: > Hey folks, what's the status of that document? Just means the people being addressed. > Are your folks coming to dinner? is, "Are your parents coming to dinner?" Wiktionary lists both as definitions: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/folks#Etymology_1 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/folks#Etymology_1
- grumpymouse 4y ago
  I can’t hear ‘folks’ without thinking of Neddie Seagoon from The Goon Show. Probably not what proponents of the word are going for, the show being from the 1950s and in many ways ‘of its time’.
- melissalobos 4y ago
  > Obama: 'We tortured some folks' https://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/john-brennan-torture-cia-109654 https://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/john-brennan-torture-...

Folks has been used to describe a group of people in the southern US for a long time. In pop culture it was used like that by Porky Pig at the end of Looney Toons with "That's all, Folks!" (i couldn't remember the how the stutter goes though)

nkurz 4y ago

I think your understanding is mistaken, or at least regional. While it can mean "parents" when used in the plural with a possessive ("my folks", "your folks", sometimes even "the folks"), in modern American English it's as commonly just a synonym for "people". Using "folks" (especially in the plural) to mean people can be rather "folksy", though, and I wouldn't be too surprised if some textbook or dictionary mentioned just the "parent" definition. Did you learn it this way as a second language, or as a native speaker somewhere non-American?

mdoms 4y ago

Being asked to use "folks" in Australia was frankly bizarre. It's not a word anyone uses over there and would be considered a severe Americanism. Pretty sure that suggestion came from our Texas staff, not the Californians.

reaperducer 4y ago
Pretty sure that suggestion came from our Texas staff, not the Californians. Fortunately, Austin isn't representative of the majority of Texas, or America. It's like Portland, but with better weather. (Just last week I learned that "Keep Austin Weird" predates "Keep Portland Weird" by five years.)

deathanatos 4y ago

Depends on context: > Hey folks, what's the status of that document? Just means the people being addressed. > Are your folks coming to dinner? is, "Are your parents coming to dinner?" Wiktionary lists both as definitions: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/folks#Etymology_1 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/folks#Etymology_1

grumpymouse 4y ago
I can’t hear ‘folks’ without thinking of Neddie Seagoon from The Goon Show. Probably not what proponents of the word are going for, the show being from the 1950s and in many ways ‘of its time’.
melissalobos 4y ago
> Obama: 'We tortured some folks' https://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/john-brennan-torture-cia-109654 https://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/john-brennan-torture-...