Damn, I had no idea so much thought was put into this word. I’m 34 and I’ll refer to my guy friends as “the boys,” and it’s not uncommon in my circles for men or women to refer to a male significant other as “The Boy.”
I suppose it depends upon the tone in which it’s said. I guess it could mean sex kitten, but I was thinking more along the lines of pretty. That’s a compliment. It doesn’t dimish any other acheivements 
P.S. Please don’t worry about being “nearly thirty” - you know when they say life begins… :p!
This is, without exaggeration, the best post I’ve ever read.
Yeah, what even sven said.
Oh, and you can call me food. I like food. I don’t mind that so much. If you insist on a cute little nickname.
This. And no matter what one may think, “girls” is not an age-neutral female equivalent to “guys.” It just is not.
That’s a troublesome argument, because by your logic, a woman who hasn’t accomplished much in her life for whatever reason could be diminished by calling her a girl, and should be complimented by it, because she hadn’t earned the respect of a proper title by having “done something.”
No, an adult is an adult, and should be addressed with words befitting that status. Girl is a word for a female child. End of story.
Bravo! Extremely well put.
Voted for “other.” “Girl” is appropriate in any context where you’d also use “boy,” regardless of age. So, for anyone past puberty, never in a professional context, and seldom in social ones, except with people you know reasonably well.
The last time I was down at our corporate headquarters, out having lunch with my manager and her manager, the server referred to the three of us as “girls.” I’m in my mid-to-late 20s, my manager is old enough to have a son in college, and her manager is probably older than my mother. This guy was *maybe *21. If I’d been out on my own or with friends, you bet your ass I would have chewed him out *and *asked to speak with his manager.
Calling me a girl is *not *flattering as, shockingly, my goal in life is not to arrest my development at 12 years of age.
Yes. Unless your goal is to be condescendingly sexist, in which case, it’s good.
Try that out with Black men over the age of 25 and the word “boy,” and let me know how it works out for you.
Ladies is fine, but only if pronounced as “Lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllladies.”
Girls - till 21-ish.
Gals - never!!
Young Lady - only for the pre-teen set - NEVER for adults. Ever. Ever.
Words have different meanings in different contexts.
“C’mon in boys, the water is fine” = perfectly okay.
“Bad boys are more interesting than nice guys.” = perfectly okay, I would much rather be called a bad boy than a nice guy.
“That boy’s finger does not need to be on the button.” (about Obama) = not okay.
It is all about the context.
Therein lies the problem though. There is a casual age-neutral term for male humans. Namely, “guys.” If not for “guys”, “boys” would be used more often.
“Bad boys” and “bad girls” are both used.
“Nice guys” and “nice girls” are both used.
The reason “girls” is used more often is simply because there is no alternative. “Boys” and “girls” can both be used in the right context as age-neutral terms for humans of the appropriate gender. But while there are alternatives to “boys”, there is no alternative to “girls.”
I fully agree that it would be wrong to say “girls” in any situation where you would say “men.”
But when you want a casual age-neutral term for female human beings, “women” just doesn’t work. “Chicks” and “gals” sound weird (or are even offensive to some). “Girls” is all we have.
And “nice lady” just makes you sound like Jerry Lewis.
Only if she is underage (I am female)
I just don’t get juvenility in adults. Come on, people, grow up already.
Any female person 18 and up is a woman to me. To me, *woman *is a word of power and respect. It used to be used disrespectfully, but thanks to feminism it’s been reclaimed. Calling women “girls” has been a way of demeaning and belittling us adults. It’s like calling black men “boy.” Just don’t. It isn’t appropriate, especially when used by men. You don’t need a slang word for us. Call us women and show us respect.
Also, what even sven said.
Or “womyn”?
Put me down in the “it’s OK in circumstances where you would call a male a ‘boy’ or a ‘guy’”. “The guys at work are planning a big guys’ night out to see the new superhero movie; the girls just roll their eyes” - OK. “The team working on that project used to be five men from our department; now they’re bringing in two girls from another division” - not OK.
No.
Never in a business or formal context. I rarely use the term wit my kids - 3 girls under the age of 10.
I’m sure there are plenty of contexts where it’s fine more casually. People will have different views.
I personally use dude a lot as a gender neutral term.
Q - Is it ok when a woman says ‘girls’ when referring to her own boobies? I see this occaisionally on these boards 
I only use it consciously in the “you go, girl!” and “girl, you are a trip!” situations, where I’m speaking to someone I know well and who I know doesn’t have a problem with being called “girl”.
When referring to a young adult that I don’t know, I would most likely say “young woman” although I’m not certain “girl” hasn’t slipped out now and then. “Lady” is the default for the someone who appears significantly older than I am.
People call me “girl” all the time and it doesn’t generally bother me (I’ll be 33 in July). I am youthful looking and perhaps youthful behaving too (don’t wear make-up or high-heels, don’t get my hair or nails done, and occassionally I’ll laugh at something ridiculous that no one else has picked up on, etc.) It’s not like I’m not accomplished or independent; it’s just that “girl” is often the first descriptor that comes to people’s minds when they see me. Would I be peeved if my boss called me a girl? Certainly. But from anyone else, I wouldn’t see it as much of a to-do.
If we’re cutting things out because they’re offensive, why doesn’t that also eliminate “girl”? I’m actually more offended by “girls” than by “chicks” or “gals.”
Breasts are not grown women. So go for it. 
(Which isn’t to say I’m not generally a bit weirded out by people sectioning off bits of their bodies as separate entities, but that’s a whole 'nother discussion.)
You wouldn’t have done well when a octogenarian, singing and spinning in a translucent orange negligee draped with bras and prosthetic breasts, danced into and out of the cabin in the remote north-west woods where we were finishing our late night meal.
As it happened, I was watching a Louis CK act yesterday and he addressed this very question. To sum up, when girls go wild, they show their boobs. When women go wild, men end up dead. 
To be mildly serious, I actually do agree with him. It’s more about maturity and life experience than age.