Word folks ('To all the folks at the Palombo Bakery. They know why...')

[KLPNO]

Hello everybody.

I'd like to ask a question about the word 'folks'. In the book I'm reading the author writes at the beginning: "To all the folks at the Palombo Bakery. They know why..."

Does the phrase imply that there can be his relatives working at this bakery or is he simply addressing all the people at the bakery?

[Yankee]

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The word 'folks' just means 'people' in your sentence.
There is no indication that he might be related to any of them.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[KLPNO]

Thank you very much, Amy.

[Yankee]

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You're welcome.
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_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Alan]

Hi,

The word 'folks' is often used to refer to people you know in your hometown, your place of work or indeed people in your family.

It's always used in a friendly way to describe such people. You may know the famous phrase: That's all folks used at the conclusion of a cartoon or a group of cartoon films. The phrase was first used at the end of a 1930 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Prepositions

[KLPNO]

Thank you very much, Alan.

[Yankee]

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I agree that 'folks' usually sounds more friendly than 'people', but there is no indication whatsoever in the sentence fragment provided that 'folks' refers to family/relatives.

If the fragment used "my folks", I probably would interpret that to mean "my parents".
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_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English