Hacker News Reader

Comment by sctb | Hacker News Reader

From the linked interview at https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/25/24108872/bluesky-ceo-grab...:

> And so, mid-2021, they interviewed me along with some other folks and then chose me to lead Bluesky based on this vision that I pitched for how we were going to build Bluesky, which is essentially how we’ve built it. And so that’s how I got involved.

View on HN

Why do they always use "folks" in place of the word people?

I’m sure it varies but I’m from the midwest and it’s just regional vernacular. It’s what I would say if I were speaking instead of writing.

I'm Swedish and use "folks" when talking/writing English all the times, just sounds more informal, cozy and folksy so that's what I usually go with.

I am too and no one says it more than silicon valley or other urban dwelling politically active leftists. All my life I never heard it much at all until it became some cultural linguistic trend in early 2000's once Obama said it.

edit: Seems like relatively recent trend, probably has peaked [0].

I'm not the only one that noticed [1][2]

[0] https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=folks&year_sta...

[1] https://newrepublic.com/article/156807/politicians-always-ta...

[2] https://www.google.com/search?q=rise+in+popularity+of+the+wo...

… I mean, yeah, the language changes. People do not use exactly the same words at exactly the same frequency as they did 20 years ago. That’s how English works. Don’t like it? Go live in France.

(French changes, too, but in that case there is some active effort to stop it changing.)

It's a political signifier and should be recognized as such, is what I'm saying. As the New Republic described, it was a rhetorical "tic" of Obama, and is the same for other left wing types. It comes off as weird to me; not everyone uses it but a certain type over uses it a lot. So this is recognizable.

Regional slang. "Those people" can sound a bit cold/distancing when folks feels a bit warmer.

Why did you use the word "always" in place of the word "often?" I doubt there was any motive behind it.

I noticed this trend take off during Obama’s first term. He used “folks” often in speeches and interviews. It caught on as a word that implies cultural unity and common heritage without actually referencing a specific culture or people.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com