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Original poster

"guys" - an acceptable form of address for women?

109 replies

BelleCurve · 23/04/2011 18:46

Is this appropriate/acceptable ever to use for a team of women/mixed? Does it matter if the person saying it is male or female?

I am trying to think of an improvement, but "ladies" or "girls" is even worse

OP posts:
noodle69 · 23/04/2011 21:15

I call all my work colleagues mates. It all depends I think as a lot of the people I work with dont mind being called mates/girls and my husbands work everyone is the lads but on the thread on AIBU a lot of people dont like it. All depends on your team and your demographic I would say. I dont think it would be something you could generalise.

Personally I dont like ladies as it reminds me of extremely pervy bouncers.

SardineQueen · 23/04/2011 21:00

Generally I feel that it doesn't matter one jot and I have been known to say guys.

But then I think, language is very important. I object to so many children's stories having no female characters / 1 token pink one. I object when girls are left out of things because of their sex. I am annoyed when women are overlooked for promotion / cash as they must be (see gender pay gap). So maybe it isn't right to use a form of address that is men-only. If I were in a meeting and someone stood up and addressed "right then gentlemen" or "gents" I would be pretty miffed. So why do I feel guys is OK? Because it is more casual / american? Do we see a lot of american films/TV where it is routinely used for mixed groups? I think maybe that is the difference.

Not sure what I think TBH Grin

StewieGriffinsMom · 23/04/2011 20:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SueSylvesterforPM · 23/04/2011 20:00

I say guys, ladies etc dont see a problem

TitsalinaBumSquash · 23/04/2011 19:44

I call any group of people I'm friends with 'guys' I don' see a problem.

Absolutelyfabulous · 23/04/2011 19:43

I like Peeps best but don't have a big issue with guys providing the company is mixed.

PrinceHumperdink · 23/04/2011 19:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Anniek · 23/04/2011 19:41

If I'm talking to a mixed group I normally say "people".

In the past I've worked mostly with men but did have a couple of women in my team, but I'd never refer to the whole group as "guys" as I think it would imply the women didn't exist or didn't matter to the point I was trying to make.

colditz · 23/04/2011 18:47

can't see the issue with Ladies.