folx

Meanings

nounfolx pl (plural only)

alternativepluralplural onlyAlternative spelling of folks.First known use 1600s
pluralplural onlypronunciation spellingEye dialect spelling of folks, representing African-American Vernacular English.First known use 1800s
De kommitte told me dere wus a great gedderin ob de culored folx at Brudder Jonson's Eatin House, [...]
1857, Julius Caesar Hannibal, Black Diamonds, Or, Humor, Satire, and Sentiment, page 183
2 more examples
I presume yoᵣ lo. will fynde to be very stronge besides the qualitie of the peticonars to be lookte vppon, whoe if they be noe other then as folx [also fox] is stilde mear mariners, it cannot promise muche of their extraordinarie performancis, as hath bin made appeare formerlye in this perticuler designe, [...]
G. T. C[lark], R. O. J. (28 July 1862), “Some Account of the Parishes of St. Nicholas and St. Lythan (continued)”, in Archaeologia Cambrensis, number xxxi, London, page 192
If some do, da hypocrites, and dat don't militate 'gains de siety; for cause da some hypocrites, dat proves dat some good folx.
1879, M. Star, in The American Temperance Cyclopaedia of History (Joseph Beaumont Wakeley), page 185, ostensibly quoting one Missa Param
Internetespeciallypluralplural onlyFolks; people.
This time around the fine folx of Rocktober bring us the greatest rocknroll^([sic]) moments in television history.
2004, Maximum Rocknroll, number 255
1 more example
I write this book with the goal of showing you that Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous folx are not a “was,” that we are [...still present.] […]
2018, Joshua Whitehead, Jonny Appleseed, →ISBN

Origin

Variant of folks. While the word was already gender-neutral, the suffix -x is a deliberate social signal of awareness of sexual minorities. Compare English Latinx.

Full word history & related roots →