Gentlefolk are people of the higher social classes — the well-born, the comfortably rich, the ones older books call ladies and gentlemen. The word is almost always plural.

Gentlefolk are people of the higher social classesGentlefolk是指社會階層比較高的人 — the well-born, the comfortably rich, the ones older books call ladies and gentlemen——出身好的、生活優渥的、舊書裡稱為ladies and gentlemen的那種人。The word is almost always plural這個字幾乎都是複數。

You will find it in stories set in the past, or in a writer putting on an old-fashioned voice. Nobody in a shop or on a bus says gentlefolk now.

You will find it in stories set in the past你會在以過去為背景的故事裡看到它，or in a writer putting on an old-fashioned voice或是作家刻意裝出老派口氣的時候。Nobody in a shop or on a bus says gentlefolk now現在沒有人在商店或公車上會說gentlefolk。

Though actually, folk in this word does not mean 'ordinary people', which is how students often meet folk. Here it just means 'people', and gentle once meant 'of good birth', not 'soft' or 'kind'.

Though actually, folk in this word does not mean 'ordinary people'不過其實這個字裡的folk不是「一般老百姓」的意思，which is how students often meet folk學生通常認識的folk是那個意思。Here it just means 'people'這裡它就只是「人」，and gentle once meant 'of good birth'而gentle以前的意思是「出身好」，not 'soft' or 'kind'不是「溫柔」或「和善」。

So gentlefolk are not 'kind people'; they are 'high-class people', at least in the speaker's eyes.

So gentlefolk are not 'kind people'所以gentlefolk不是「善良的人」；they are 'high-class people'他們是「上流的人」，at least in the speaker's eyes至少在說話者眼中是這樣。