| 词组 | folk, folks |
| 释义 | folk, folks Both folk and folks have been subjected to criticism for quite a while. There are two streams of comment. The British one begins with Fowler 1926; he thought folk a lingering Saxonism on its way out of ordinary use. Gowers heavily revised the opinion in 1965 but still endorsed the notion that people was replacing folk. It is true that people is much more common than folk, but folk has not vanished by any means, even in British English. Gowers also thought folk and folks were more common in American English than in British, which may well be true. Folks, at least, is almost entirely American. Gowers, it may be noted, did not disparage folks. But Vizetelly 1906 and MacCracken & Sandison 1917 had disparaged it, and Emily Post in 1927 called it "provincial" (a venial fault in Mrs. Post's system of labeling). From these and other sources, the question of the propriety of folks has come down to recent times. Our most recent evidence suggests that the comments in most of the handbooks are backward-looking. Let's begin with a cursory glance at British English. Gowers noted that folks was often used in direct address by American entertainers and was similarly used by British entertainers in imitation of that practice. Our only two fairly recent examples of British folks—and these both from Commonwealth sources—are of this construction: • But seriously, folks, the story is beyond belief —Caroline Egerton, Nation Rev. (Melbourne), 29 May 1975 • So, come folks, let's not wait —Jill, Advocate-News (Barbados), 15 Feb. 1975 Much of our British evidence for folk is not especially different from American use, although folk seems always to be used even in situations where Americans would tend to use folks: • She hadn't wanted to discuss her broken marriage with the folk at home —Sybil Josty, Annabel, February 1974 • Canadians are shrewd folk —H. S. Ferns, Times Literary Supp., 15 Feb. 1980 • ... those pompous round-robins from literary folk —Auberon Waugh, NY. Times Book Rev., 17 June 1979 • The Highland Pony ... is rather suspicious of strange folk —Colonel Sir Richard Glyn Bart, The World's Finest Horses and Ponies, 1971 In American English we find that folks is still used for people generally and for one's family: • ... the time of year when folks travel —Susan Hall-sten McGarry, Southwest Art, July 1984 • ... a standard resource for kids whose folks are divorced —Randy Shipp, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Dec. 1979 • ... up to their old hijinks, robbing, getting folks killed —Genevieve Stuttaford, Publishers Weekly, 2 Aug. 1976 • ... would not be some folks' cup of tea —Carll Tucker, Saturday Rev., 17 Feb. 1979 It is also used, although not as often as folk, for people of a particular class or kind. • My momma could never understand how white folks could twist the words of the Bible around to justify racial segregation —Dick Gregory, in The Bedford Reader, ed. X. J. Kennedy & Dorothy M. Kennedy, 2d ed., 1985 • ... the good parts of his book are about the folks at the top —Jeff Greenfield, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 6 July 1980 • In 1784, when folks in what is now Tennessee began talking of creating a new state —John G. Mitchell, Smithsonian, November 1982 • Cubs fans ... were ready to ram the TV folks through the ivy-covered walls —Richard Rothschild, Houston Post, 31 Aug. 1984 Folk seems to be somewhat more frequent in this sense: • Houdini entertained the circus folk —E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime, 1975 • ... the rich and famous and infamous folk —Simon 1980 • ... we literary folk can make a brave display —John Updike, Publishers Weekly, 14 May 1982 • The mountain folk around the Gap —Frank DeFord, Sports Illustrated, 19 Nov. 1984 • ... have closer ties with ... urban elites than with rural folk —S. Frederick Starr, N.Y. Times Book Rev., 15 July 1984 Folk and folks have come a long way since Emily Post disdained them. These uses are standard, although folks still seems to be a tad breezier or more informal than folk. Either can be used as an alternative to people in an appropriate context. |
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