I'm bored at work, so here's a fun poll for everyone.

It was kind of funny to me at first. I use the word 'folks' at least twenty times a day, so when I started using 'folcs,' I had to laugh once in a while. Now it's all old hat to me.

JD

I wouldn't say 'odd', although I just can't help but thinking about 'FoLCs' when I read about 'folks'.

AnnaBtG.

I think I am really weird! Okay, we all knew that.

I never new people pronounced FoLCs like folks until last summer when I met other FoLCs for the first time. I had always (and still do) said (okay, never outloud -- just in my mind or in typing) all of the letters -- like F-O-L-C's -- and never even thought of it as an actual word -- and never associated it with the word folk.

- Laura

Like Laura, I never pronounce "folcs" like "folks". I tend to say it (yes, out loud) as "fah-licks". I also don't use "folks" in normal conversation. Maybe it's a regional thing?

Having been born and raised in the South, I use the word 'folks' frequently, even though I no longer live in that part of the country. When I talk about folcs, I always spell it out: We are f-o-l-cs. It always catches me by surprise when I read "I'm a folc." I always write 'an folc' because of the ef sound.

Jude

I've just realised I don't pronounce it folk either. I tend to say 'foal-k', definitely producing the 'l' in the middle.

And 'an FoLC' just sounds plain weird.

LabRat

You mean the 'l' in folk isn't pronounced?

Every day I learn something new...

AnnaBtG.

I think it depends on what accent you're talking about, Anna. I've always pronounced folks/FOLCs with an "l" sound in them.

I don't think I ever said it spelled-out, though I know some people who did -- I liked the play on words. We're not just any old folks, we're FOLCs! <g> Plus I had a case of nickname-envy -- the X-File fans in the forum next door called themselves X-Philes, which I thought was brilliant.

I tended to pronounce the other acronyms as words, too, come to think of it -- "Home is Where the Hurt Is" (HiWtHi) was pronounced "Hiawatha" and "We Have a Lot to Talk About" (WHALTTA) was "walt-ah."

This can go too far, of course. I'm embarrassed to admit that sometimes I have, in verbal conversation, actually pronounced "lol"

PJ

Welcome to the club. Rofl is one of my words...

JD

Some people pronounce the l in folks? Not where I grew up, but then, I'm just a country girl. As for 'an folc' sounding weird, not if you sspell it out when you say it: an f-o-l-c . And hey, Ms. Rat, I'm not sure someone who lives in Scotland should be talking about the weird-sounding pronunciations of folks beyond Hadrian's Wall.

Jude

The first time I saw the word folc, I thought it was a typo. Then I started to see it around a lot. I thought it it was just a neat play on words - Folk and Fan of .....

Fol-k is the way I pronounce it. Like Folk.

I never thought of spelling it out when I say it.

I can't quite hear this word.... How do you get that from Folc? I am very curious. To me it sounds like a word Freud would use. I'm not going to type it even though it is an everyday word here (I grew up in a household w/ pple taking psychology and history.....enuf said). You all understand?

When I use it I put a Folc. Not an b/c the first letter is not a vowel.

I usually stop myself on time, although I think I said that to my brother once

AnnaBtG.

Well, yes - but who spells out words when they talk? (Other than when they're trying to inform their husband that they're cooking pasta for dinner without alerting the pasta-loving hound to the fact...)

Pam - I thought I was the only one who'd developed the habit of saying LOL instead of laughing. Boy, the net has a lot to answer for!

LabRat

I do, in this case. Can't speak for anyone else. Last time I looked FOLC was an acronym, and judging from the replies on this question, there is no one way to pronounce it. Since it's an acronym, there's no reason why it couldn't be spelled out: "I am an ef o el c". But we all have our own speech idiosyncracies.

Jude

I love TLAs and other acronyms. I am firmly of the belief that any acronym that can be pronounced as a word (or pseudo-word) should be. FoLC, LOL, and ROFL can be.

Like Labrat, I've always pronounced it "Foalk", emphasizing the L as to make it different from the pronunciation of "folk." And now that I think about it, I don't think anyone every told me it was a word, or how to pronounce it, I just assumed. I thought everyone just pronounced it the way I did.