Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

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Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Am I L-deaf?

Folk! Do YOU pronounce the L in the word, FOLK? I know that dictionaries say “NO, we don’t”. But I think that I often hear an L there. Eh?

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Nah, you don't, it's silent. Possibly in certain accents it's pronounced (dialectical variation in pronunciation can be huge in English), but generally it's pronounced 'foke'.

R_Helms Jun-10-2004

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Im from West Texas, and that word gets used alot around here. Here's what I've noticed:

Folk by itslef: L is pronounced ex: I like Folk music.

Folk with another word, like kinfolks ex: I'm going to visit my kinfoke this weekend.

Plural of folk, folks ex: Fokes don't like having to wait a long time at a restraunt.

There you go.

P_Ray Jun-23-2004

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My dad pronounces it very slightly (his first language is not English), probably because he pronounced it wrong in the first place and never quite corrected himself. My mom (native English speaker) used to argue with him about it.

As a result, I pronounce it so slightly that instead of actually being an L, it's more like a premature closing of the O. I'm certainly not saying that this is correct.

Hmmm. Interesting.

speedwell2 Jun-10-2004

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I'm from the Midwest (Indiana) and we definitely say the L when saying like, "That's all, Folks!" African-americans may not say it in their accent.

My relatives in the south do say kinfolk a lot but it's been a while since I've heard them say it.

Bubba1 Jun-23-2004

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I live in oklahoma where this word is as common as cotton fields, cowboys in my classes, and other various western things I dare not mention for being rude or inconsiderate. FOLK. The "L" is pronounced and not pronounced pending the person using the word. Many southerners speak with a drawl. ( sp?) and drag thier words and the "L's" are very noticable...

mikeanywhere Jun-10-2004

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Around here (West Michigan), it's uncommon, but the 'l' is not pronounced. However, some people will self-conciously pronounce the 'l' so that the word can't be confused with another four-letter 'f' word (you should all know the one).

Chance_Likely Aug-04-2004

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