Informal term for women?

[GingerPCatt]

I was chatting to a friend last night and we were trying to come up with an alternative informal word to women. I don't like calling my friends girls as we are in our 30-40s but saying "had a lovely time women" sounds way to formal. Ladies is the same. It feels too formal. I need a grown up version of girls. Any suggestions?

PS.
I have returned to work and am further in my career than I was previously.

"onemore
I wouldn't say boy referring to a single man but would say.
'Oh, ask that lad in marketing, y'know, the client manager' "

I absolutely bet you wouldn't, you know.

And yes, of course there are more important issues in feminism- there are plenty of threads about them. This thread just happens not to be!

This is the type of thread that gets attention though.
And this the type of thread that makes it look like feminists froth over non-issues and makes people roll their eyes.
If you were saying I wouldn't refer to a young/middle aged man as a lad. I will excuse you as you don't know me but I absolutely would and do.

If you are put off feminism by this, then all I can say is

We all have space to care about the big and small issues. Girl is often used in a patronising and belittling way about adult women; lad and bloke and guy less so. We are all smart enough to know that girls' night out is not and "how are my favourite admin girls today?" from a man addressing a group both older and younger than him.

And please don't use "frothing" to describe perfectly measured statements. It's inaccurate. Thanks.

It gets your attention maybe- why not have a look at some of the others, I think you'll find them interesting.

So are you saying that it is perfectly usual to refer to a senior manager in an organisation as a "boy" or a "lad"? Or to a group of middle aged employees in an office environment as "boys" or "lads"? Because I hav never, ever heard anyone do it. And I have heard "girl" or "girls" frequently.

"And this the type of thread that makes it look like feminists froth over non-issues and makes people roll their eyes."

Who's "frothing", by the way?

Actually, could you point out a post where someone has frothed about the issue please? Because I'm failing to see a single feminist that has thus far?

Calling an adult male lad or an adult female lass is, to me, infantilising. Although I realise that there are provincial differences. I am also, seemingly oddly, quite capable of managing to find being denominated a child annoying while at the same time doing things about all sorts of other issues.

In fact the you shouldn't be giving a shit about this issue, what about insert other problem here which you should be doing something about is quite a common tactic of the kind of person who attacks feminists on principle. Strangely, those types also use infantilising epithets to describe the women they're virtue signalling. Which I'm sure wasn't your intention.

Non-feminists complaining that women having a perfectly measured conversation are frothing feminists don't half put me off being a non-feminist [tongue in cheek]

See, spider? Kinda cuts both ways, if we are getting into that sort of ridiculousness.

Oh, heck of a cross post.

Blimey.

And we are the frothy ones?

lol.

Hope they keep you around, you're great value.

Merry Christmas

spider you had a partial level of agreement from me (ok i couldn't spot the frothing either), until your last post, are you okay?

Merry Christmas one and all

Nadolig Llawen i pawb

Really? Actually disciplined?

He was a contract project manager and was pulled into a meeting with senior management, the lady in question and a union rep and it was gone over pretty thoroughly but as he wasn't permanent staff I'm not sure how much more discipline they could have done.
He wasn't sacked but it was made clear he shouldn't use the term again.

Calling an adult male lad or an adult female lass is, to me, infantilising

Fine as long as you recognise I have no problem being called a lass. (My username was picked because the last time this was discussed I was so irritated by being told the word was unacceptable ) but I find "guys" belittling and rude.

Oh and we'll done in acknowledging the provinces exist.

So the woman complained. The incident was investigated and nothing else happened.
All complaints are investigated. That's how the system works. If the complaint is upheld, things go further. If they aren't they don't.

And yes if someone at worked kept calling me "guy" I would ask them to stop it.

I call my friends pals. 'Thanks pals'. It started of with irony, but that has been lost now.

"He wasn't sacked but it was made clear he shouldn't use the term again."

Well, this is fair enough, yes?

I don't like 'girls', I do find it childish. I say 'chaps', which I recognise is a traditionally male term, but that's language, it evolves.

Pal is a weird one.

I've lived in places where calling someone pal would have earned you someone's eternal hatred. But now I live in an area where it's a term of endearment. Still jarring though.

Oh, and if senior management, a union rep and a thorough going over was required, are you sure that there weren't perhaps one or two more issues?

Yup, does smack of something more than merely using an epithet a woman dislikes, doesn't it?

As a story though, it works beautifully for people with a "women get all arsey about tiny things and get men into disproportionate amounts of trouble" agenda.

Well, color me shocked, Plays, I never looked at it that way...

I like "Guys".Maybe "ladies" with irony. Not "girls".