Re: "write him" was Re: More questions

Padraic/Peter Bleackley wrote:

> --- Peter Bleackley
> <Peter.Bleackley@...> wrote:
> > Staving Costentin Cornomorus:
> > >--- Stephen Mulraney <ataltanie@...>
> > >scrievit:
> > >
> > > > I've always wondered why folk in the US
> > choose
> > > > to use the plural form of "folk" :)
> > >
> > >Cos there's more than one here?
> >
> > But folk is a mass noun!
>
> Yes. And if you've got two or more of those
> masses, you need the plural.
>
I don't use either word very often, but IMO _folk_ refers to The People, the
Ethnos, en masse and undifferentiated. Actually for me it only occurs in the
compound _folkways_or as an adjective, e.g. "a folk belief/custom".
_Folks_ refers, in a colloquial way, to specific groups.  With a possessive
pronoun or def.article, folks refers to a) one's parents, or sometimes (b)
one's extended family.
--I visited the folks last weekend. (parents)
--How are your folks? (parents)
--Your folks are a really interesting/weird bunch. (what you might say after
visiting a friend's big family gathering :-) )

 With a nominative or vocative pronoun, or a demonstrative, it simply refers
to some specific group, and not necessarily friendly.
--You folks [and I'm looking at you right now] shouldn't be here.
--Those folks [and we all know who they are] believe the earth is flat.
--Some folks never get it.......

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