Hey, Folks

The South has "y'all," Rhode Island has "you guys," other parts of the country have "people," and we have "folks."

To many Americans, "folks" are your parents, as in "Your folks will be so proud of you at graduation."

But to other Americans, particularly those of us in Maine and the rest of the northeast, the word "folks" refers to a group of people we're talking to, and we use it a lot. Here are a couple of examples: "Hey folks, I've got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?" and "The folks I'm supposed to meet are late."

What's the difference between all these ways of talking to a group? In my humble and biased opinion, "folks" and "y'all" sound charming and friendly. "You guys" sounds like something you say when you're trying to get people's attention as in "you guys, look at this," or "you guys shouldn't be doing that!" "People" sounds impersonal, like you're trying to maintain distance between you and the group. Other opinions?

Listen for it when someone's giving instructions to a group here, and as you become more comfortable with your English, look for appropriate opportunities to use it.

Now ya know!