I am not seeing anything but manufactured offense here.
Oh, I was hoping you meant our pets.
I call my pack of pets all sorts of group names.
Usually it’s critters
Occasionally I add an offensive slur to that. “As in f••king nasty critters!”
They don’t seem to mind.
In fact, whatever I say to them I get puppy eyes and butt wagging.
The cats are not quite so demonstrative.
In casual settings where “guys” works for men, I tend to go with “gals” for women. So far, no one’s knocked me out for it.
Even after being away from Philly for over 40 years (though I’m gearing up to move back soon), “youse” is still part of my vocabulary. Old habits die hard.
If I’m talking to a mixed crowd, you’ll probably hear me say something like, “Yo, any of youse guys or gals know where I can score a solid hoagie or cheesesteak?”
… and then my kids will say, “dad, stop embarrassing us and talk normal.”
It’s almost like different words can mean different things in different contexts! Including, I don’t know, the words “man” and “woman” themselves! Amazing!
So, guy means “man” in this context, correct? All I am saying is that when one uses “guys” when addressing a large group of people, it would be nice if one knew that that the person was referring to all people, and not just be forced to assume such because of necessity and male-driven habit.
It’s uncommon for people to casually use words that are “supposed to” be offensive. But fwiw, that phrase has never bothered me in any way.
I say, outloud “Man, oh man!” As an exclamation.
Often.
I don’t know why.
It may be a way to reduce curse words. Lots of children around here.
I am wondering if using “man” as a pejorative can be considered an advantage to men? 
Some people have issues with lots of stuff, like using “literally” to mean “figuratively” - but language marches on. I gave you the example of the young woman who hated being called “black”- should we stop using that term now?
You make a interesting point.
Exactly. If you know it is an issue, then try not to use it.
I use it.
Not that I disagree with your disappointment over the whole mess, but the usage you describe here is a different sense of the word (I’m assuming ‘I like people’ wouldn’t have conveyed the correct meaning) - the word has various meanings and some of them are more specifically gendered than others; pretty much like two different words that look and sound the same (not by accident of course).
I can’t think of another example of this specific phenomenon in English, but I bet there are some.
That is a hill I am willing to fight and die on. Literally and figuratively are antonyms, not synonyms!
Would you describe it as terrible, or awful?
Which is totally fair. I dont expect you to use them as synonyms, but if you ran around correcting people loudly every time they used them as meaning more or less the same- you’d become unpopular. Myself, I try to use them old school, but I dont even wince anymore when the new usage is used.
Certain things are worth fighting for. If I hear somebody misusing literally, I will nay I must correct them!
I cannot think of any friends I have in realspace that misuse literally. If somebody misuses the word, and takes offense at being corrected or defends their misuse, we cannot be friends
…which is a situation I have literally (and I am using that word literally) never encountered, because again, people use context when speaking.
It’s also pretty comical that you, a man, are trying to tell women who use a common word to refer to other women that No! This word is actually offensive towards women and you just don’t know any better.
Let me know when that actually happens.
If someone addressing a mixed crowd uses the word ‘guys’, and consciously or otherwise, is only really interested in addressing the subset of the crowd who are men, I don’t know that requiring them to use a different word is going to fix them.
As a man, I would not presume to judge what behaviors are deemed offensive towards women by women. I feel my role in this debate is to sit back, listen, and learn.
That said, I think it’s telling that in a thread where the OP and several other women have said they don’t like being referred to as a guy, there are several men who are trying to justify their doing so by saying that they’ve never had a woman object to this.
That’s fair and I agree. There’s not very much point in trying to persuade someone that they are not in fact offended.
It is entirely possible for the word to be used in a way that the speaker intends to be entirely non-gendered, but still be perceived as gendered by the listener - because we’re talking about communication, which is not just about what you think you said, but about what is heard and understood.
Preach it!