When Obama talked of 'working folks' and 'folks coming here legally' in his latest state of the union address it signalled the US president's return to one of his favourite terms of address. The word 'folk' was notably missing from his second inauguration speech in January, but had been previously used with such abandon during the re-election campaign that it became an object of comment for more than one political watcher. Looking back at Obama's track record, folks actually missed out on the first three of his state of the union speeches, before making its debut in the 2012 address - the last one before his 2012 re-election when the US president was in solid electioneering mode.
Now that the word has cemented a regular spot in Obama's annual address to the nation, it is perhaps further proof that the Chicagoan has given up on his international legacy and is firmly focussed on domestic issues – or at least his speech writers see it that way. But all is not lost for Obama on the international stage. Nobody in the UK uses the word 'folk' as a form of address, or at least that used to be the case until it became a contender to be the latest American export to take the UK by storm…
Recently, the word 'folk' jumped out at me in an email salutation from an English friend, who admittedly works in the London office of a US multinational and is thus forced to have his middle initial inserted into his professional email address. Seeing the word being used over here, it looked out of place; hearing it when said friend started slipping it into spoken sentences sounded even worse. Soon afterwards, the word started appearing at the beginning of emails from English bosses at The Economist (or should that be line managers?). On closer inspection, the word is now all over The Economist newspaper.
Why is this happening? Where else is it appearing? Is urban Britain actually a nation of folks, or do we all simply want to sound like the president of the United States? Plenty of commentators over here laud Obama as an orator-extraordinaire, showing CEOs and other business leaders how to be interesting and inspiring. He is truly a gifted speaker. Yet imitating Obama's communication style on these shores can go a step too far. Next thing, David Cameron will be addressing folks at fire-side chats in town hall meetings up and down the country and this very American usage of an English word will truly have gone international.
My one working theory for this repatriation of 'folks' was that it is gender neutral. Therefore, as an informal greeting to a group of people, it is more useful and politically correct – particularly in the modern workplace - than the next best thing: 'guys'. Only this theory was quickly rubbished by a female business executive I shared it with - she was adamant that 'guys' has long since become gender neutral. Whatever the reason, Obama's choice of words has certainly made its mark over here. Before he came along, we were all a lot more familiar with the word at the end of another famous American export: 'That's all folks'.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.
