To think calling 25/26 year olds lady is quite odd

[Fedupwiththis70]

I just feel that woman is more suitable for younger people. Lady I always think of as at least 40. Recently heard someone call a woman at work that lady with the blonde hair not even a young lady just lady. The woman is 25/26. Don’t know if it’s just my views though.

Lady, gentleman = adults = over 18

Ditto woman, man

Whilst the word woman is not objectively rude, in common usage it does sound it. If a group of colleagues were chatting and I needed to get past I would say "excuse me ladies" rather than "excuse me women".

@CheetasOnFajitas

Who’s she? The cat’s mother? is reserved for when someone goes straight to “she” without saying the person’s name. Often with pointing. That’s what’s rude.

“Why are you eating a sweet?”
“She said I could”

Instead of “Aunty Betty said I could” or “Granny said it was OK”.

Isn’t it interesting thought that, ‘who’s she, the cat’s mother?’ is a common turn of phrase. There is no male equivalent.

Nope. I use lady or gentleman

@Catlover77

Adult male = man Adult female = woman Easy peasy

Even that’s debatable now 🙄🥱 although I totally agree with you

I use lady and gentleman regardless of age. That's what I've taught my children too. Mil says mister which I don't like.

Working in retail in my late teens/early twenties I was always referred to as "lady" but only in the context of people talking to children e.g. "give your sweeties to the lady". I didn't mind, it always made me feel quite grown up

Lady (and woman) describes a female adult regardless of age.

I can't see the issue.

It really doesn't matter.
I remember when I was doing my paper round at the age of 16 and a toddler came out to take the paper off me and her mum said 'Say thank you to the lady'. I thought that was odd, but then I thought the toddler probably doesn't differentiate between people of my age and people of his mum's age so lady was probably right.

In an office environment I would refer to a woman as lady and a man as gentleman. I don't say 'young lady' or 'old lady" nor do I say " young gentleman" or "old gentleman".To me, if you are a female adult then you are a lady or a woman. I hate it when colleagues and people refer to a group of men or women as " "the girls" and "the boys" .

It's fine, but I would say that you are correct that people often apply it to older women, say, 40+.

Artie just say "excuse me".

I had a male boss (armed forces) who insisted a female was a lady until she gave birth and after that she was a woman. Just weird.

@titchy

I think it's odd to call any female a lady once you're over the age of 8. The word is 'woman'. Unless they have the title 'Lady' of course.

This! The word 'woman' is not an insult so I don't understand why adults would refer to a woman as a lady.

In my mind a lady is a woman of any age. Harmless phrase to call a woman imo, it's just trying to show additional respect.

Woman.
Young woman 14-16.
Girl, if you must, under 14. I like 'women-children' rather than girls, but I haven't met anyone else who feels the same way.
Lady - adult female stranger.

If you are making a speech surely you would say 'Ladies and gentlemen ' rather than 'women and men'. That would sound really odd.

I think this may be generational. I remember my grandmother correcting me very crossly when I referred to her neighbour as "the woman next door". She said "she is not a 'woman', she is a lady!" And yes, she would also have used 'gentleman' instead of man.

To be honest if writing a formal email or something or addressing someone politely, particularly someone in a professional context, I would always use lady or gentleman. She must have taught me well!

Or you could say "Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone"?

I think lady is fine, to me it sounds more polite than woman, regardless of age. I always use lady when talking to my DCs (as in "say thank you to the lady") etc.

@Maireas

Or you could say "Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone"?

Yes that’s the second time you’ve said that!

We get it you don’t refer to any one as lady or gentleman

But there’s also nothing wrong in doing so

Each to their own and all tuatv

Keep calm, RizzleDrizzle I made the same point about slightly different circumstances. I am allowed. Deep breaths, my lady.

My point is you need to calm down - literally everything everyone says you say the same thing

We get it you don’t call any one lady and gentleman

Other people do

😂 😂 😂 OK, RizzleDrizzle just relax.
The point is, I can post what I want to. As can you! xx

I was a waitress 18-21 and people would say to their children "say thank you to the lady" which spoke make me feel so old 😭