Agonistes Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 I usually say men and women but do not get offended by guys and girls.
basil67 Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 I call my dogs "Ladies." I lean out the door and sing-song "Laa-dies" to get them in. And they're anything but proper, so no connotation there. At the annual vet visit today, I told the vet about the only odd incident recently where Chickapea was just walking down the hall and suddenly yelped real loud and kicked her back legs up like a mule. The vet said one possibility was gas. My chooks are "girls" and my parrots are "boys". I tried calling the chooks Ladies, but it didn't stick.
Chilli Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) l've wondered about this too. But if you go onto a date site, here anyway. THEY , call themselves girls , and chicks , in their 40s and 50s . l always think this is weird , say in my mums day for example 40s , 50s was pretty old , now they call themselves chicks. They stick their tongue out in photos like my 16yr old daughter and all her friends and everything. Edited March 23, 2018 by Chilli
FilterCoffee Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 I think it’s just a characteristic of the English language. In my mother tongue, you rarely hear a woman being called a girl.
Tribble Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 It is a curious thing. I use girls a lot and have wondered why myself. But when I use 'woman' or 'women', it feels very formal. The only time I would use it would be when talking about men and women or (for example) women in the workplace. When I am referring to the gender as a whole rather than a group of people I know. In my workplace, there is a team of women that are often referred to as "the girls downstairs" in casual conversation and I've often wondered if they find it offensive. But calling them "the women downstairs" feels more aggressive in a way. But then we call another team guys, not men and I don't think they hate that at all. I'm not bothered by girl, going out with the girls, meeting my girls, girls weekend, the new girl at work, all feel very normal to me. The only time it has bothered me in recent memory was someone who referred to me as "little girl" in a working context. It was very demeaning and annoying. And I think that is the crux of it, how is it intended. If someone calls you a girl to somehow bring you down or take you less seriously, I hate it. If it is a reference with no superiority or malicious intent, it is just a word. I would much rather be called "girl" than "bird" which is a common slang for woman around my parts 1
CautiouslyOptimistic Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 Almost anything can mean testicles or breasts! There's so much slang for them. Google it sometime for a laugh. Garbonzas. I call my dogs "Ladies." I lean out the door and sing-song "Laa-dies" to get them in. And they're anything but proper, so no connotation there. At the annual vet visit today, I told the vet about the only odd incident recently where Chickapea was just walking down the hall and suddenly yelped real loud and kicked her back legs up like a mule. The vet said one possibility was gas. Chickapea is an awesome name for a dog! 3
Els Posted March 26, 2018 Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) Informally I say "guys" and "girls", in a slightly more formal context I'd say "men" and "women". I do agree that using "men" and "girls" in the exact same context (and especially together) would be somewhat strange, although I personally wouldn't read too much into it. Very few polite terms bother me - women, girls, or ladies are all okay. Unless pinpointing a specific gender is necessary, I personally prefer to use gender neutral ones to address others most of the time - folks, people, guys (colloquial). The only one that REALLY bugs me is when people say "men" and "females" in the same context. Almost invariably the people who do that are the "red pill" or "MGTOW" variety and not particularly fond of women, hence the broad dehumanizing strokes. Generally I'd be very wary of anyone who frequently uses "males" or "females" (especially if they only use that terminology for ONE gender) - IMO those terms should almost never be used for humans outside of a scientific/textbook/educational context. FWIW, the SO uses "girls" and "women" interchangeably, and "ladies" in a formal context (e.g. "ladies and gentlemen"). Edited March 26, 2018 by Elswyth 1
swenann991 Posted May 13, 2018 Posted May 13, 2018 I don't mind when someone call me "a girl", actually it is cute to me 1
anduina Posted May 15, 2018 Posted May 15, 2018 I use girls and guys a lot but would wonder if someone used girls and men only. Context would define if it's unconscious contempt for the female gender or not. Is it a boy or a woman who's doing this?
Shining One Posted May 23, 2018 Posted May 23, 2018 Of course I won't refer to my women and female hierarchy at work as ''hey girls'' but ma'am.When I first started my career in IT, I always referred to the women I worked with as "ma'am". It earned me some glares and I didn't know why. I was later told to stop saying ma'am because it made them feel old.
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