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Folks is probably the most classic American colloquialism. However, I have never heard anyone use it except for politicians and most noticeably Obama. I have thought about it long and hard. Why use a colloquialism when you are clearly highly educated and in a superior position? I am sure I have never even heard the word in real life.
Folks. It makes you feel all safe and warm. He is touching back to his Midwestern roots and simpler times. It is almost as though folks lulls the people into a sleep. Screw lullabies. Just whisper folks over and over again until your baby falls asleep.
How come it is always in the plural? What is a folk. It’s not a person. It is always a collective. I guess people is too pointive. People expresses a sense of outsidership. And god knows a politician must be one of the people. Folks. It denotes kinship. Who wouldn’t want their kin to be president?
The word usage is so innocent it is hardly noticed, but the word is mobilizing. It is packed with implied meaning and emotive response. “A man who uses folks is all right in my book” seems to be the proper response. But I have my suspicions.
As Porky Pig would say: “th-th-th-that’s all folks!”
