Folks, Listen Up: It’s Time to Retire the Word “Folks”

Well, well, well, looks like we have another hot topic to dive into, folks!

Now, I’m no stranger to controversy.

I take a lot of pride in ruffling feathers on social media.

But I did not intend for this lighthearted tweet on my distaste for a certain trigger word to burn up my mentions the way it did.

I am here to admit that the word “folks” triggers me. I cannot be alone in this.

— Corinne Clark Barron (@corinnec) February 11, 2023

But since we’re on the subject: I stand by this completely and I am now demanding change.

The fact is, the word “folks” has been abused by the political world for far too long.

You’ve GOT to realize the pattern by now: every politician takes to the stage, and before they even get to the good stuff, they hit us with the classic “folks,” in some weak attempt at connecting with us NORMAL FOLK.

It has become so predictable that it falls completely flat for me… and probably everyone else, too.

Nevertheless, they/them persist.

One time, Joe Biden said the word more than 30 times in one speech.

Obama reportedly doubled the use of “folks” in political speeches during his time in office and he leans on it HARD whenever he’s trying to insult a group of people who don’t get invited to his IV league alumni dinners. Once, he even employed the word in a casual dismissal of the times the United States avoided compliance with the Geneva Convention. (“We tortured some folks” is a real Obama quote that does NOT get enough screen time.)

Using – and overusing – the word is just like a bad habit these elitist jerks just can’t seem to shake.

But here’s the thing, folks, it’s just getting old to me. Real old.

The word “folks” is meant to be a friendly and informal way of addressing a group of people.

But when it’s used repeatedly by politicians, it becomes more of an annoying and repetitive buzzword than a genuine expression of endearment.

In a world where politicians are constantly trying to appeal to the masses, it’s not surprising that they resort to using these terms to try and connect with the people.

Unfortunately, they’ve abused “folks” so much that it just makes them sound disingenuous every single time they say it.

So, let’s take a step back from “folks”, folks.

Let’s retire the word “folks” from the political world and maybe require politicians to find a REAL way to connect with their constituents.

Let’s give them all time to find a NEW, exciting buzzword to annoy us with.

We could all use more variety in our lives.

That’s all, folks.