| Re: Meaning of "folks" |
Wanadoo, l'internet avec .. |
| John of Aix (j.murphy@nospamlibertysurf.fr) |
2004/05/11 10:50 |
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From: "John of Aix" <j.murphy@nospamlibertysurf.fr>
Newsgroups: alt.languages.english
Subject: Re: Meaning of "folks"
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 18:50:00 +0200
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> I've noticed lately the word "folks" is undergoing a drastic change of
> meaning in my lifetime. I hear it used by talk radio,TV hosts and even
> George Bush in the exact opposite way it was traditionally used.
>
> Traditionally:
> simple people, parents, kin, neighbors, peasants, landsman, countryman
>
>
> Modern:
> "They need to extract information from these folks" (terrorists)
> "These folks are on death row for 20 years now" (prisoners)
> "The folks at Walt Disney..." (CEO's)
> "a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who
> committed this act" (terrorists)
>
> What's going on with this word? Is "Folk Music" now "Terrorist Music"? Is
it
> an insidious propaganda campaign to deprive us of the comfort of "folks"
and
> leave us parentless, kinless and neighborless? An attack on the traditions
> of language preparing us for the a New American Century?
Well it has come simply to mean 'people' as you show. Perhaps one of the
reasons is to put a friendly tone into what would otherwise be an unfriendly
statement by hinting at a familiar, avuncular concern.
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