“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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Aw, ya don’t like have to like slink… know what I’m sayin’? You’re one of my favorites.
You made up every word of that, didn’t you? “Gal” the equivalent of the “n-word”? WTF?