# “Good morning, guys” — is using ‘guys’ appropriate? Because y’all are female and male. What say we? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148 "2021-04-16T14:11:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/41 "2021-04-17T01:00:22Z")
As in “chain gang”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/42 "2021-04-17T01:02:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I just say “hi, gang!” I might say, “hey, folks” in writing. In person I’d just say, “hi” I do read “guys” as gendered. Not super strongly gendered, but it carries (to me) and assumption that you are thinking of the audience as male. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/43 "2021-04-17T01:02:36Z")
We got rid of the leg irons long ago, so it’s pretty much just ‘gang’. 😜 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/44 "2021-04-17T01:02:58Z")
Want a “like” button… ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/45 "2021-04-17T01:09:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I do read “guys” as gendered. Not super strongly gendered, but it carries (to me) and assumption that you are thinking of the audience as male. “Hi guys” is a very common greeting on YouTube videos that are made by young women with an audience of primarily young women. My teenage daughters start out with “hi guys” when they are making videos directed at an audience. It probably depends on location and generation. I think the older you are, the more likely you are to consider “hi guys” to be gender specific. It therefore follows that the older the speaker, the more likely “hi guys” is actually gender specific. A dead give away is if the speaker stumbles and gives some apologetic glances to any women who happen to be in the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/46 "2021-04-17T01:16:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I realized this when i was at a mostly IT party, and a non-binary person said that their manager addressed the group, “good morning, ladies, gentlemen, and Chris”. That is so awkward. It sounds like something Ricky Gervais’s David Brent would say. By attempting to be inclusive you end up being exclusive by singling out the one person who is forcing you to change your greeting. I get a similar awkward feeling when someone kicks off a meeting with “Good morning gentleman… and Jane.” Everyone looks at Jane. Jane smiles nervously. The best way to be inclusive is to use inclusive words, not list off the names of the people who didn’t fit into your initial non-inclusive greeting. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/47 "2021-04-17T01:22:05Z")
Yes, and that’s when I thought about how senior management addresses large meetings in my corporation, and realized that they just say something like, “hi, i think everyone is here, so let’s get started”, or just, “hello”. I literally can’t remember hearing “ladies and gentlemen” (or “guys”) at work. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/48 "2021-04-17T04:04:50Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > unless you want to say, “Good morning - except you, Eric. I wish you’d die.” Thanks~you made laugh out loud~ 🏆 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/49 "2021-04-17T06:49:06Z")
> [@FordPrefect](#): > > That’s why I use, “Good morning, fuck faces!” Completely gender neutral. Rude, honestly expressed and gender neutral. Fuckin’-A, bubba. I like it! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/50 "2021-04-17T08:20:16Z")
“Greetings, programs!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/51 "2021-04-18T04:51:23Z")
Do NOT call the staff "peasants’ or “peons”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/52 "2021-04-19T13:20:19Z")
I find a hearty “Good Morning, Comrades” works well. “Greetings, Citizens” works, too, if I’m feeling … judgmental. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/53 "2021-04-19T14:18:52Z")
Comrades is a little too… USSR for me to use. I could go with friends, but that might be a bit presumptuous. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/54 "2021-04-19T14:21:49Z")
It’s not uncommon usage here, actually, I wasn’t actually joking. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/55 "2021-04-19T14:28:10Z")
I’ve heard it used too. I didn’t think you were joking. And I wasn’t either, as a veteran who served during the end of the cold war. I doubt I’d ever use comrades. ETA - but if it works for people, I’m cool with that. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/56 "2021-04-19T14:46:07Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I think the older you are, the more likely you are to consider “hi guys” to be gender specific. It therefore follows that the older the speaker, the more likely “hi guys” is actually gender specific. This might be why Amber Ruffin does it: I think her show audience skews younger. Also, she’s a woman, and it seems a lot of you associate the gendered “guys” with something men say. Still, it’s rather surprising to me that, for a lot of you, “guys” is still gendered. Maybe, despite being 36, I’m still “officially” young as far as this usage goes. Now if I can only figure out when to use which emoji. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/57 "2021-04-19T14:49:56Z")
How interesting. I’ll turn 60 in a few months and I’ve always thought of “guys” as gender-neutral. Whereas in the OP I was wondering if the younger generations were thinking of it as more gender-specific. So it’s only lately become a question in my mind. Maybe I’ll ask my daughter. She’s 32. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/58 "2021-04-19T15:20:34Z")
There is gender imbalance throughout the language, but less so with ‘guys’ than with ‘men’. With ‘guys’ I see the default as gender neutral, while for ‘men’ the default is gender specific. And despite recent tendencies I prefer gender specificity where known and appropriate so I’d rather keep ‘guys’ than turn it into something totally non-gendered that sounds forced or unfamiliar. However, as I mentioned above, it’s an informal reference. Maybe at work you can refer to your team as ‘guys’, you have that kind of familiarity, but high level management addressing a body of employees not so closely associated would be best to avoid informality altogether. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/59 "2021-04-19T16:34:55Z")
FWIW, here’s a dictionary definition for ‘guy:’\* **1.** _Informal_ A man; a fellow. **2.** **guys** _Informal_ Persons of either sex. So … like many things in this life … you could, conceivably, be _technically_ correct but still cause offense. Ain’t that just life, though ? \*[**LINK**](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/guy) ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148/60 "2021-04-19T16:56:59Z")
My first meeting of the day may be in the morning for me, but it’s afternoon for the others. And English is not their first language. “Hello, everybody” or “Hello NameA and NameB” if it’s just two people. I rarely use guys anymore, mainly because there I had a coworker who only used it to refer to our male colleagues. So it would be, “Hello guys and Die Capacitrix”. Not my favorite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-morning-guys-is-using-guys-appropriate-because-y-all-are-female-and-male-what-say-we/940148.md?page=4)