# Annoying vocal mannerisms: "right?" is the new "like" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465 "2021-09-10T14:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/41 "2021-09-14T15:35:14Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Whereas “guys” seems to me to have this wonderful sense of casual non-gendered neutrality. “You guys” is pretty standard around here, but I tend to go for “you folks” or “you all” in mixed company or all-female just in case there’s somebody sensitive about the term. It still conveys that sense of casualness. I don’t really have any peeves like this, but I did notice the other day a guy I just struck up a business relationship with has this tendency to end what feels like every third sentence with “ya know what I’m sayin?” Something like “right” I wouldn’t have even noticed, but, from the sheer length of this phrase, it’s constant appearance was conspicuous. I found it more amusing than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/42 "2021-09-14T15:43:55Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > “Gals” is right out of the early part of the last century. I think women themselves collectively decided they’d rather be called “guys,” and found “gals” disparaging. And that decision seals the issue. But I’m not entirely convinced it had to go that way. Instead of the harsher “bitch,” “gal” could have been their “n-word,” appropriate and empowering for their in-group. And it does have a 20th C. charm to it: “Staying power? I tell ya, a gal could use him to time a soft-boiled egg.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/43 "2021-09-14T15:59:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Good grief. I didn’t say it was malicious. Just stupid, careless, lazy, juvenile, disrespectful, and uneducated. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to imply that you did. I just volunteered that to make it clear that in most such cases not even a hint of male-exclusivity or misogyny is intended. As for that string of invectives, all I can say is that from what I know of some of the originators of YouTube videos that I watch that use “guys” as a common form of address (mostly aviation videos), they are the exact opposite of that string of adjectives. I can’t fault you for being annoyed with them – that’s totally subjective – but your characterization of them is just not accurate. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > As for the waiter, an alternative to _guys_ would be _nothing_ . A valid point. But again, if trying to create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, I skew mildly towards the view that we have an innate sense of social convention that makes some form of address sound more congenial than the absence of any at all, which sounds a tad more impersonal to my ear. But maybe that’s just me. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > What a load of crap. And I mean that in the nicest, kindest, most non-malicious way you can possibly imagine. And I’m going to take it in the nicest, kindest, most non-malicious way possible. 😃 {_Wolfpup slinks quietly away_} ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/44 "2021-09-14T16:30:16Z")
In conclusion, it would be safe to say that “right” is wrong, right? 😈 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/45 "2021-09-14T16:33:47Z")
I think “nome sane” is on its way out. Nome sane? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/46 "2021-09-14T16:34:38Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > And I’m going to take it in the nicest, kindest, most non-malicious way possible. 😃 😘 Aw, ya don’t like have to like _slink_… know what I’m sayin’? You’re one of my favorites. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I think women themselves collectively decided they’d rather be called “guys,” and found “gals” disparaging. And that decision seals the issue. But I’m not entirely convinced it had to go that way. Instead of the harsher “bitch,” “gal” could have been their “n-word,” appropriate and empowering for their in-group. And it does have a 20th C. charm to it: Oh please. 🙄 You made up every word of that, didn’t you? “Gal” the equivalent of the “n-word”? WTF? I think _guy_ and _gal_ are equal on the casualness scale. At least _gal_ is appropriate to my gender. I don’t consider the word _guy_ to be gender neutral. If gender neutrality is a consideration, we have “y’all,” or if that feels inauthentic to a Yankee, “folks, everyone, friends,” and any number of alternatives. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/47 "2021-09-14T16:36:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Nome sane? I feel you, bro. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/48 "2021-09-14T16:44:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Aw, ya don’t like have to like _slink_ … We canines have, like, an instinctive sense of the looming risk of having something thrown at us. 😅 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/49 "2021-09-14T16:59:03Z")
Well, I was getting ready to throw some hunks of leftover roast beef atcha, but I guess I’ll have them on a sammy _[another word I hate]_ instead. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465/50 "2021-09-14T18:12:01Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I know _guys_ is not going away, but I really hate it. Sometimes the “guys” aren’t even human. A few weeks ago, my dentist referred to my teeth as guys. “Looks like that guy in the back needs a crown!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-vocal-mannerisms-right-is-the-new-like/950465.md?page=2)