Charlie Harper: “In my defense, he was taped, tucked and gorgeous.”
And of course, to them, any female would be a “girl”, a mere child, whereas a male is a “man”, an adult.
That’s how I hear the tone of voice that some people use when they refer to women as “gals”.
I may be prejudiced against the word because my dad would say “Oh, I’ll just have one of the gals at work type this up.” One example was the itinerary for our family vacation. (This was a bank, back in the '70s, by which point everyone should’ve known better.)
He gave me some serious man-to-man advice once:
I don’t like to hire gals for any important jobs. Any one of them could get pregnant. Or before you know it, they’ll get married and then they’re gone.
But so many people use “gals” that I wonder if it’s just me…
Well, it’s not JUST you…
Some days, okay, most days, I just wish we used gender-neutral pronouns. Always. Period. Just save everyone the headache. It’s more efficient and easier. If you want to use a generic descriptor, use one that’s really generic.
And the only reason he postulated that particular disgusting stunt* is, no doubt, he’s thought of doing it himself “to teach someone a lesson” or already has done so.
*By this I mean he’s used his own semen for the “stunt”.
I don’t really want to see his browsing history or the pr0n folder on his hard drive . . . 'cause we all know what’s there.
Before he died, my father was, like many people shortly before they die, seeing a lot of doctors. There was the cardiologist, and the pulmonary specialist, and the urologist, and the gal doctor…
I kept on reminding him that, first, he meant “woman”, not “girl”, and second, why was he seeing a gynecologist?
(IIRC, her actual specialty was oncology)
I wish someone could come up with a set of gender-neutral singular pronouns. I know it marks me as a hopeless troll, but after a degree in English literature and a lifetime of reading I simply cannot bring myself to use “them” “they” “their” &c to refer to a single person. It’s like fingernails on a blackboard.
If gender-neutral pronouns were the norm, and some conservatives said their preferred pronouns were she/her or he/him, would you respect their choices?
Checkmate, libs!
Having grown up in the South, I have the same reaction to hearing you to refer to more than one person.
This, this. I know descriptive and not prescriptive. It still just grates. 
Are you speaking of: “How are you guys”?
South, as in Dixie, not Philly. 
I really have to force myself to say “you” instead of “y’all” while I’m teaching.
I’m from Michigan and we say, “You guys.” It bugs my sister, though I don’t know why she grew up here right along with me.
Oh, and definitely a different accent than Philly.
My best guess is because y’all you guys are siblings. 
Yes, I know what you meant, even with the missing punctuation!
The thing is, I would, as I suspect most liberals would - because we respect other people’s boundaries.
Oh yeah. I have to look what I am typing so hard to do things right nowadays. Calling someone “they” seems so dismissive…but if that is what they want, I will do my best to treat them respectfully.
I’m old. Hopefully it will come easier to younger people.
I have trouble respecting conservative choices, especially over the last handful of years.