Alt-leftists and the use of the word 'folks'

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Has anybody else noticed this? Why is this a thing? I understand why black politics/activism uses this word--it has a proud history in that context--but where did upper-middle-class white LGBT activists and radikewl types happen upon it? Did they get it from black politics/activism? If so, why?

It's especially mystifying since most of the white alt-left types who use this word wouldn't be caught dead in the same room as the other types of white people who use it.

If we have an interesting discussion about this, there are also a lot of questions I could ask about constantly using 'individual' instead of 'person', saying (UGH) 'bodies' instead of 'people', and saying 'member of the [X] community' instead of '[X] person'.

[White Trash]

wouldn't be caught dead in the same room as the other types of white people who use it.

Shucks, I'm probably the other type of white people.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

wouldn't be caught dead in the same room as the other types of white people who use it.

Shucks, I'm probably the other type of white people.

You are, but that's not at all a bad thing in my book.

[White Trash]

wouldn't be caught dead in the same room as the other types of white people who use it.

Shucks, I'm probably the other type of white people.

You are, but that's not at all a bad thing in my book.

Aw thanks . One weird thing about is that these types of white "activists" are entirely condescending towards Southern and Working-class whites. Not based on any racial or historical reason, but entirely for cultural and political purposes. So it's strange for them to co-opt a piece of the dialect. Plus they butcher the pronunciation. It ain't "fullks" it's "fokes'

[Mopsus]

saying (UGH) 'bodies' instead of 'people'

This one's always seemed weirdly sexual to me.

[Goldwater]

Somewhat off topic, where does the term "Alt"come from and what exactly does it mean? Because the  first time I remember hearing that term was someone using "Alt-right" to describe the types of people that support Trump.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Somewhat off topic, where does the term "Alt"come from and what exactly does it mean? Because the  first time I remember hearing that term was someone using "Alt-right" to describe the types of people that support Trump.

Alternative, presumably.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

wouldn't be caught dead in the same room as the other types of white people who use it.

Shucks, I'm probably the other type of white people.

You are, but that's not at all a bad thing in my book.

Aw thanks . One weird thing about is that these types of white "activists" are entirely condescending towards Southern and Working-class whites. Not based on any racial or historical reason, but entirely for cultural and political purposes. So it's strange for them to co-opt a piece of the dialect. Plus they butcher the pronunciation. It ain't "fullks" it's "fokes'

Yeah, the condescension and contempt are why I said they wouldn't be caught dead.

In my circles, incidentally (working-class 'white ethnic' on one side of my family, nouveau riche 'white ethnic' on the other), 'one's folks' usually means one's aged or aging parents.

Somewhat off topic, where does the term "Alt"come from and what exactly does it mean? Because the  first time I remember hearing that term was someone using "Alt-right" to describe the types of people that support Trump.

'Alternative'. I, at least, basically use it as a modifier to mean 'characterized by weird, strident identity politics developed on the internet'.

[Mr. Reactionary]

wouldn't be caught dead in the same room as the other types of white people who use it.

Shucks, I'm probably the other type of white people.

They can't have that word. It's OUR word! This is cultural appropriation.

[White Trash]

wouldn't be caught dead in the same room as the other types of white people who use it.

Shucks, I'm probably the other type of white people.

They can't have that word. It's OUR word! This is cultural appropriation.

They've taken "folks"! What's next "y'all"? "Shucks"? "Hoe-down"!?!

[BuckeyeNut]

It's gender neutral. That's why they use it. And they spell it "folx." To be edgy and cool. Y'all's next.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

It's gender neutral. That's why they use it.

...so is 'people'.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Not familiar with those circles at all, but I'd assume because it's a more colloquial alternative to "people" that remains gender-neutral, as Buckeye said.

I don't really have a problem with that, tbh. Should I?


"Bodies" for "people" though? WTF??

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Not familiar with those circles at all, but I'd assume because it's a more colloquial alternative to "people" that remains gender-neutral, as Buckeye said.

I don't really have a problem with that, tbh. Should I?


"Bodies" for "people" though? WTF??

I just think it's strange that these specific circles use all these words that, for some of them, seem to serve to circumlocute around saying 'people' in almost any context. There are also people--sorry, there are also folks--who consistently spell it 'ppl'. I have only ever run across that in these circles. Because vowels are problematic, or something...?

[BuckeyeNut]

"People" as "ppl" is lazy spelling. "Folks" as "folx" is, for some reason, considered even more gender neutral. As the gentleman from California says, folks/folx is a lot more colloquial than people.

[Derpist]

If we have an interesting discussion about this, there are also a lot of questions I could ask about constantly using 'individual' instead of 'person', saying (UGH) 'bodies' instead of 'people', and saying 'member of the [X] community' instead of '[X] person'.

It's a weird argot that annoys me too. OMG THE  BROWN BODIES ITS 2016 DONT YOU KNOW

[Ban my account ffs!]

People in Minnesota use "folks" all the time.

"Hey Bob, where's Diane?"  
"Oh, she's up at her folks' with the kids for the eelpout festival.  Too bad I gotta work."

"Jesus, its forty-one below out there...how do you deal with that?"
"Well, we're hardy folk now dontcha know.  The real answer is layers.  Lots and lotsa layers."

If you wanna go totally rural hickfest...

"Yous folks have a good night now!  Drive careful!  Lotsa deer out there this time a year.  Though my hubby always says when life hands ya a deer on the hood a yer car, make venison sausage!"

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Probably because 'comrades' has fallen out of favour. And 'people' is a bit clinical.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

And 'people' is a bit clinical.

...really? I've always thought 'people' is about as neutral and colorless as a word can get. It's not a technical term but it's also not slang. It's neither U nor non-U. I couldn't imagine what problem with it somebody might have.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yeah, I really can't imagine what the SJW case against the word "people" might possibly be. I get the desire to add some semantic variety, but I don't see why they'd actively avoid the word to the point of coming up with something as utterly cringeworthy as "bodies" (seriously, who thought that up? ).

[Derpist]

Probably because 'comrades' has fallen out of favour. And 'people' is a bit clinical.

Actually, the PC term is now "you people".

[Vosem]

As someone who has friends with views like this, I've always understood "bodies" to be sarcastic or ironic; a reference to how people (usually exclusively some form of minority or oppressed people) are dehumanized by the powers that be.

[checkers]

I always thought bodies somehow stems from the Foucauldian insistence on the embodied nature of oppression - "docile bodies" etc, though totally bastardised. I've seen it a fair bit in academia. Sounds totally gross and dehumanising when divorced from that context though.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I always thought bodies somehow stems from the Foucauldian insistence on the embodied nature of oppression - "docile bodies" etc, though totally bastardised. I've seen it a fair bit in academia. Sounds totally gross and dehumanising when divorced from that context though.

Foucault was obviously a brilliant and fascinating thinker, but at this point I'm inclined to think his influence on the state of academic discussion has been pretty terrible.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I always thought bodies somehow stems from the Foucauldian insistence on the embodied nature of oppression - "docile bodies" etc, though totally bastardised. I've seen it a fair bit in academia. Sounds totally gross and dehumanising when divorced from that context though.

That's definitely what it is but it's typically used with absolutely no regard for how it sounds in a sentence.