# I'm a woman who doesn't like being called "guy" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683 "2025-03-16T21:51:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/365 "2025-03-23T18:24:54Z")
I admit, I’m still just a little irritated when “they” is used to refer to single individuals, even though I know that (a) it’s been done for a long, long time and (b) it’s probably only going to happen more. The English language really does need a one-syllable, widely-accepted, gender-neutral personal pronoun. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/366 "2025-03-23T18:42:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > On a somewhat related note, can anyone explain to me why we say “you are” instead of “you is”? > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Probably because “you” was originally plural. The singular was “thou” (and would have been “thou art”, not “thou is”.) It is still plural. Like how in German one would say “Sie sind” to politely address an individual (or “Ihr seid” to sound Olde Fashionede) in addition to its usual meaning. [“Thou” in English today is also dialect or Olde Fashionede] I quasi vaguely remember some pretty old poetry where someone says “It am I” [cf. “I am it”], as opposed to “It is I” or “It is me”. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/367 "2025-04-14T03:54:06Z")
I usually just greet a mixed group of people with “hey dummies!” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/368 "2025-04-14T04:39:20Z")
An elegant, simple solution that pleases everyone. I’m going to try this out next time I have to interact with vendors at work. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/369 "2025-04-14T23:36:10Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > “Guys” has been used by me (F) and my school buddies as a gender-neutral term for _60 years_ now. Six decades. Yeah, this. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/370 "2025-04-15T02:36:14Z")
On at least three occasions over the past month, I have heard a group of just (younger) women use “bro” as an interjection. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/371 "2025-04-15T18:50:32Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > And for the Air Force, it’s baked into the junior enlisted ranks: Airman Basic, Airman, Airman 1st Class, and Senior Airman. It’s actually worse in the Navy: Seaman Recruit, Seaman Apprentice, Seaman. Say it out loud. And if you are in the engine room, as I was, the E2 and E3 ranks become Fireman Apprentice and Fireman (of the “stoker” variety). Our stripes were red, instead of the white or black stripes of the seaman (depending on the uniform). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/372 "2025-05-02T03:56:31Z")
I just saw, in a 2023 episode of the British show _Portrait Artist of the Year_, former Spice Girl Emma Bunton refer to those painting her portrait - six of eight of whom were women - as “these guys.” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/373 "2025-06-25T21:12:46Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, that’s how I observe the usage around here and among her peers. It’s like “bruh, check this out” or “bruh!?” (“why did you do that?”) Thought of this thread when I read this. [https://www.npr.org/2025/06/25/nx-s1-5443929/bruh-meaning-explained-word?utm\_medium=social&utm\_term=nprnews&utm\_source=bsky.app&utm\_campaign=npr](https://www.npr.org/2025/06/25/nx-s1-5443929/bruh-meaning-explained-word?utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=bsky.app&utm_campaign=npr) ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/374 "2025-06-29T00:29:43Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Yeah, the Philly accent Stallone uses in Rocky is exaggerated. Kevin Bacon, who is from the area, does a perfect version of the accent in Sleepers. I’m from Philly. No discernable accent. My childhood best friend has a respectable one, as do his wife and kids. I truly think it’s what you hear in your home as much as what you hear in the streets. Having watched Stallone in [The Lords of Flatbush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lords_of_Flatbush), one is reminded that his accent is kinda Brooklyn-meets Broad & Packer Ave. One is also mindful of the fact that he suffered a severed nerve during birth that cause paralysis in the lower left part of his face. This partially explains why he sounds the way he sounds. The [Philly Mom](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/x5st-MlnWb8) character _would_ be an amusing exaggeration. Except that I’ve conversed with this level of deep Philly accept in the last year. I happen to adore it, but I also can decipher it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683/375 "2025-06-29T05:29:32Z")
My aunt lives just outside Philly, and I can, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-woman-who-doesnt-like-being-called-guy/1015683.md?page=18)