Pet Peeve,

[Sewsojm]

Is anyone else Sick of hearing all of the reporters referring to people as "Folks", and we know who started that Shit!!

[wli]

1. Ein Volk! Ein Reich! Ein Fuhrer! ... rethugs are creaming their jeans n/t

[titoresque]

2. I say "folks"

all the time....I don't mean anything bad by it though? Am I being insensitive? I didnt know :shrug:

[Justitia]

3. I admit, I say "folks" too..always thought it sounded warmer...sorry

'bout that. I don't say it every time, but mostly in place of addressing groups of people directly and collectively - for example:

"Can you folks in the back hear me?"

I thought it sounded more inclusive than "you people"

Sorry if it offends anyone.

[Sewsojm]

4. I just

always think of * when I hear it and that's why it irritates me now, didn't mean to say it was a bad word or anything. I know he uses it to make people feel like he's one of them and I cringe every time he says it.

[Justitia]

5. Yes, I agree - he sounds condenscending when he uses it & he does

it too much.

I use the term sparingly, and rarely outside of TX when I travel.
It's not a term which translates easily outside areas where it is used commonly.

Most people adapt to their audience.
Bush uses it as a "prop", like his fake ranch, boots, etc.

[Berry Cool]

6. I think one of the reasons it still grates on people

is that many still remember Bush using it (initially, probably completely unconsciously...he seems to have been unconscious about a LOT that day) to refer to the 9/11 terrorists.

Of course, so many people got so outraged at hearing murdering terrorists referred to as "folks," and said so, that he quickly changed his rhetoric, and from then on they were "evildoers."

But a lot of people still remember that, and it sticks in their craw. And they DO see it as yet another one of Bush's props in his attempt to appear like your average Texas boy...with his ranch, his boots and his brush clearing. Yep, he's "jes' plain folks." Suuuure.

[Xithras]

7. Wha??? "Folks" has been around forever.

My folks split up when I was a kid. My grandma lives in an old folks home. I refer to people as folks all the time...and I live in California.

Truth be told, it has more to do with family heritage than anything. More than half the whites in America are of Germanic origin, and "volks" is the Germanic word for "people". They brought the word with them when they migrated in the 1700's and 1800's, and it's been a part of American English ever since.

How can anyone be offended by "folks"?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? :shrug:

[Bluebear]

8. "We'll get the folks that did 9/11" the Chimp cried.

The folks you talk about are the folks you know.

People drowning and starving are not "folks". They are desparate human beings. I can see where the OP is coming from.