6 ms·
Mostly that just seems to show that "guys" (plural) is taken as mostly neutral but "guy" (singular) is not.
by eterm 12y ago
Mostly that just seems to show that "guys" (plural) is taken as mostly neutral but "guy" (singular) is not.
- djur 12y agoThat seems accurate to me. I do try to avoid 'guys' and 'dudes' in professional contexts, for the reasons mentioned in the OP, but it can be difficult to remember. Most of my closest friends are women, and 'hey guys' and 'hey dudes' are common greetings even when the group is all women (other than me). I don't usually address individuals by anything other than their name, but 'dude' is occasionally used for either a man or a woman, while 'guy' in the singular is clearly only for men. I mean, 'guy' is male-identified to the point that it's used as an indicator -- "guy stuff" versus "girl stuff", etc. It's not a huge stretch to perceive the plural as only quasi-neutral, addressing women by assumption rather than by explicit inclusion.