> Those really smart guys (and, unfortunately it is mostly guys and not gals) To be fair, I'm not sure why the original poster included the gender here instead

> Those really smart guys (and, unfortunately it is mostly guys and not gals) To be fair, I'm not sure why the original poster included the gender here instead of saying "smart people." The gender thing is a bit off topic. You are right that "guys" is often accepted ...at least as an informal second person plural. I get the impression this is because English just doesn't have a lot of great options here. Personally, I use "y'all." No matter the company you keep (with the possible exception of a group of CEOs) it works and doesn't make things awkward. That said, contractions like "Y'all'd've" start to get a bit messy and I generally stay away from those ...especially when writing.