4 ms·

Agreed. I didn't even take the time to find out what their gender was since it's not any related issue. "Guy" was just used in a generic sense[1]. [1] http://w

Agreed. I didn't even take the time to find out what their gender was since it's not any related issue. "Guy" was just used in a generic sense[1]. [1] http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/generic-singular-pronouns?page=all http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/generic-s...

Svip 13y ago
I apologise, I am not familiar enough with the usage of 'guy' to know it is generic in singular (I know it is in plural).
- yareally 13y ago
  No worries :). I just think of it as another way of saying "dude".
  - ars 13y ago
    Bad example because officially dude is also male. The female is dudine, dudette, or dudess. But like like guy, dude because gender neutral in common speech.
    - king_jester 13y ago
      Just to nitpick, guy and dude are not gender neutral, they just happened to be heavily used by the community in general, mostly because people assume users are men by default.
      - Dylan16807 13y ago
        Speak for yourself. A lot of people use it as a real gender neutral.
        brewski 13y ago
        For a different point of view see http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655/readings/purity.html http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655/readings/purity.html
        Dylan16807 13y ago
        There are two related but subtly different uses here. A word like 'he' is a default, which can lead to problematic implications. A word like 'guy', to some people, is a true neutral, implying gender no more than the word 'somebody'. Even if we were talking about 'he', your link would be out of place. Calling out the use of a gendered default as bad is not in fact another point of view on whether it is the default.
        brewski 13y ago
        I have never heard of a female being addressed as "guy". Phrases such as "hey guy", "what's up guy" and so on have always been directed to a male.
        yareally 13y ago
        Sometimes I will use it in a conversation when referring to a third party unknown to the person I am talking to and the subject's gender has no bearing (like in my first comment). For example, "Oh, I know a guy that knows X," "I know a guy that is a fan of X" or in a less positive manner "That guy just cut me off [on the freeway]!" (since you rarely see who it might be and their gender doesn't matter) I could say "dude" as well, but sometimes dude might be too informal. I could reword it with a number of other pronouns, but it depends on context and whom one is talking to.
        jlgreco 13y ago
        In phrases like those the word "dude" is more common than "guy", and it is frequently directed at women.
        freehunter 13y ago

Svip 13y ago

I apologise, I am not familiar enough with the usage of 'guy' to know it is generic in singular (I know it is in plural).

yareally 13y ago
No worries :). I just think of it as another way of saying "dude".
- ars 13y ago
  Bad example because officially dude is also male. The female is dudine, dudette, or dudess. But like like guy, dude because gender neutral in common speech.
  - king_jester 13y ago
    Just to nitpick, guy and dude are not gender neutral, they just happened to be heavily used by the community in general, mostly because people assume users are men by default.
    - Dylan16807 13y ago
      Speak for yourself. A lot of people use it as a real gender neutral.
      - brewski 13y ago
        For a different point of view see http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655/readings/purity.html http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~evans/cs655/readings/purity.html
        Dylan16807 13y ago
        There are two related but subtly different uses here. A word like 'he' is a default, which can lead to problematic implications. A word like 'guy', to some people, is a true neutral, implying gender no more than the word 'somebody'. Even if we were talking about 'he', your link would be out of place. Calling out the use of a gendered default as bad is not in fact another point of view on whether it is the default.
        brewski 13y ago
        I have never heard of a female being addressed as "guy". Phrases such as "hey guy", "what's up guy" and so on have always been directed to a male.
        yareally 13y ago
        Sometimes I will use it in a conversation when referring to a third party unknown to the person I am talking to and the subject's gender has no bearing (like in my first comment). For example, "Oh, I know a guy that knows X," "I know a guy that is a fan of X" or in a less positive manner "That guy just cut me off [on the freeway]!" (since you rarely see who it might be and their gender doesn't matter) I could say "dude" as well, but sometimes dude might be too informal. I could reword it with a number of other pronouns, but it depends on context and whom one is talking to.
        jlgreco 13y ago
        In phrases like those the word "dude" is more common than "guy", and it is frequently directed at women.
        freehunter 13y ago