To think calling a 26 year old a girl is odd

[Togetherforever70]

They aren’t even a young adult never a girl.

@fallfallfall

maybe it's regional? i would call a 26 year old work colleague a young girl. mind you i would also call a large group of work colleagues "the girls".

Definitely a regional thing for me in NI. We tend to call anyone younger than us a girl/lad, where I am anyway. And I definitely do say I'm going out with 'the girls' or talking to the 'girls' at work.

I think it depends on context. In a work situation I would find it derogatory. However I often address my female friends as 'girls' in a group chat and would say 'I'm going out with the girls'. I don't think it would be unusual for someone in their 20's to say 'I'm going on a date with a girl called Kate', about another person in their 20's.

All my friends would refer to each other as girls, as well as any female we like or are close to.
It’s a term of endearment and not remotely insulting in our circles. Any adult female outside that circle would be referenced as a woman. Obviously, as always, the context is everything - if someone I didn’t know referred to me as a girl but did it in a non patronising way I would have zero issue with that, but if they’re using that term to belittle me then of course that’s different.

Being called a girl doesn't bother me at all.

How does everyone feel about being included in a group of both males and females and being collectively called "guys"? Again, doesn't bother me and I do it myself, just a quick "hi guys" on Teams when I start work.

Only on MN have I ever heard this is a problem. I’m early 40s and still have a girls night out or a weekend away with the girls.

That said I would not use it in a professional setting. So I would say 30% if the people on my team are women. But if we were on a team night out I might say where are all the girls tonight?

I honestly couldn’t get too upset about it.

@RamonaFlowers1

Being called a girl doesn't bother me at all.

How does everyone feel about being included in a group of both males and females and being collectively called "guys"? Again, doesn't bother me and I do it myself, just a quick "hi guys" on Teams when I start work.

I’m the same but it sends me into an absolute rage when I see emails headed “gents”.

Dh’s old aunt, in her 80s, used to refer to her bridge-playing friends as ‘the girls’.

Shorthand for ‘my bridge-playing friends’.

I can’t remember whether their circle included any men, but no doubt she’d have referred to them as ‘the boys’.

I doubt that anyone would refer to me as a girl nowadays, more likely an old bag, but I wouldn’t object if they did.

It doesn't matter to me if someone calls me a girl, love, darling, sweetheart, duck or anything else.
I've got more things in life to worry about.

My mum meets up with 'the girls' once a month, she's 78. My dh went out with 'the boys' last Friday, he's 50. I think it is a familiar term, so I'd use girls and boys as either an affectionate or a familiar term and don't mind those people calling my a girl. I wouldn't use it for people I don't know well, and wouldn't like to be called a girl by them either. Without context I'd air on the side of caution.

They aren’t even a young adult

Are you very young OP? Of course 26 is young.

Just reading this thread makes me realise that we can never get it right and are always going to be upsetting someone whatever we say.

As someone said up thread, if I can see someone doesn't mean any offence I take none. My DH always says he is having a night out with the boys and I say a night out with the girls. We are 60. I think it's almost used as a term of endearment. At work I would call my colleagues women and men because I am not close to them.

Context?

Context is everything.
used to get wound up about this until I met my exDH. Where he's from men are boys.

I didn't realise it until he mentioned, 'the boy who works in the library' and it turns out that boy was in his 50s! And it was clear that boys and girls are basically anybody. There was nothing demeaning about it.

So I climbed off my exceptionally high horse and walked apologetically into the sunset.

@Momicrone

I call men boys, and women girls, I don't mind being called a girl

^this.

@Mamamia7962

I think people know that they don't mean it literally. We use the words "girlfriend" and boyfriend" when referring to adults too.

Exactly and there are people on this site who claim that people are not adults until at least 25!

My late OH would sometimes refer our friends as the lads and ladesses. We're all far too old to take feigned offence having much more with which we occupy our minds.

Depends on the context. DH still refers to "the babies". Said babies have mortgages and flourishing careers.

Nope, doesn't seem worth bothering about. I think of my 40 year old niece as a girl. I know she's a woman really.

Doesn't bother me and I'm 39

What? You know 26 year olds that are pre-pubescent still?
🤦‍♀️
Your opinion that some women at 26 act in an immature way is your opinion. It is disrespectful and patronising to dismiss them in that way

I am certain that you find it easy to win hearts and minds with your silver tongued charm.

@Peaplant20

I find it extremely odd. I wouldn’t call a 26 year old male a boy. It’s completely rooted in sexism and has become normalised but when you stop to think about it it’s very weird. It different in the context of saying something like you’re going out for a drink with the girls (or out for a drink with the boys) etc but in any other context it’s weird.

I absolutely would call a 26 year old man a boy. It’s totally normal to do so in my area

I call females girls and males boys if they are roughly my age or younger.

We still say boys night and girls night. And we are late 40s!

I think what's more important is we stop policing everyone's language. It's fine as long as it's not used in a derogatory way.

@OnaBegonia

It can be regional, Im in Scotland, I'm 49 and anyone over 60 calls me lassie, hen, pet 🤣 I'm glad I look young to someone. In a professional setting though it's hardly appropriate.

I knew I was officially ancient when a young mum told her wee boy to "watch the wifie" as he came barrelling towards me at high speed

I honestly can't get worked up about the use of the word girl/girls - DD's have always been collectively referred to as the girls now that they're 22 & 20 I'm not going to start demanding their grandparents, aunts, uncles etc refer to them as the women

Regional? In East Anglia a 'young girl' is a young woman, and 'girl' is used either to describe an actual girl, or as a term of address for a woman - 'You alroight there, girl?' 'Git a move on, girl!' 'Girl, can you jist a-cetch hold o'that, then?'

Doesn't bother me at all. Boys' toys for motorbikes, meeting the boys at the pub, hop to it, boy!