I live in Australia and me and some friends were talking about this the other day. Normally when we are talking to one boy and one girl the first thing we tend to say to address both people is “hey guys”, even though there is one female there.
Also, if you are talking to two females, do you still say “hey guys” as a polite form of address? Or would it be considered impolite to address two females as “guys”.
Thanks!
28 comments
That has been the standard for as long as I’ve been alive and I will never consider it anything but gender neutral.
Mixed, it’s is fine. Two girls, it gets your point across even if it’s not correct. No one will correct you
When in doubt: “Hey y’all”
No, because I’m from the south. I say, “hey, y’all!”
I’ve always considered guys to be somewhat gender neutral.
I would address two females by “hey guys” over “hey girls” or “hey ladies”.
Guys is acceptable for mixed groups.
Hey y’all. Works for any group of folks.
Hey guys is pretty much gender neutral at this point. I go to a meeting that is completely women except for me. I say hey guys to them all the time.
You might say hey gals if it is a bunch of women but any mixed crowd would be guys.
A couple of my girl friends that live together I address as “what’s up homegirls.” That isn’t very formal though.
The term “guys” has developed a gender neutral meaning in the context of greeting a group of people (even if it is only two people.) It is not at all unusual to say “hey guys” when greeting an exclusively female group of two or more people. In fact I’d even say it’s more unusual to greet a group of women by saying “hey ladies.” If a male greeted a group of females with “hey ladies” they might assume he was trying to flirt with them.
On the other hand, strangely, the term “guys” is not coded as gender neutral in other contexts:
* “I’m hanging out with the guys” would be understood to mean that you’re hanging out with an exclusively male group of close friends. If there is one or more females in said group, you’d indicate that by saying “I’ve got people over” or something like that.
* If a man wants to go somewhere like a bar in order to meet women, he would not say “let’s go see if we can pick up some guys.” But if he decided to address a group of women at the bar he could probably say “hey guys! How are you guys doing tonight?” as a greeting.
* Suppose you were talking about a group of women who did a good job on something, i.e., three female employees who did a great job on a project at work. I think it would be a little odd for someone to say “those guys did a great job on X.” You’d more likely say “*they* did a great job on X.” Yet oddly enough, if you wanted to praise this group of three females right after they got done with a presentation, it wouldn’t be unusual to say “you *guys* did a great job on that!”
Yes. I will also say “hey guys” when addressing two girls. In the context of addressing a group, “guys” is a gender-neutral term. At least in my dialect.
“Hey y’all”
That’s what I have always said.
I’m a big fan of “hey gang”
Anyone ever have their teacher start class with “Okay guys and *gals*, let’s get started.”
I’m a teacher now, and I will never use that phrase.
In my social circle and experience, “hey guys” can be used for any gender, and is frequently used when addressing a group of all women/girls as well (I am a woman).
I’m Gen-X and have been calling both males and female groups “guys” since the 80s. Since I’m Oklahoman, this also includes mixing it up with “y’all guys” and “all y’all guys.” I am female and said this to mostly groups of women.
From the musical “Legally Blonde” there is “Oh My God You Guys!” which is sung by Elle and Company to a group of only women:
https://open.spotify.com/track/2av1BBGdN9DW1u7rvoRhMM?si=lGmij_j3S9CH-T15LfLU-Q
Even girls use “guys” to refer to their groups of all girls. Saying “hey girls” to a group of girls seems kinda corny or even too direct depending on the situation.
Also, there’s no perfect way to address a group exclusively of women, speaking as a man. If you say “girls” it can be condescending or very effeminate, if you say “ladies” it sounds flirty, if you say “women” it sounds weird and oppressive.
Are there any male coaches of women sports teams here? What do you say?
I am much more likely to use “hey y’all” than “hey guys”
Guys is ok. Anyone who claims otherwise is being ridiculous. They probably want you to say “folx”
Some people use “guys” as a gender-neutral term for a group of people.
Around where I live, it would be “y’all” for that role instead.
I have a group chat with a couple girlfriends and the number of conversations we start by just sending “GUYS!” is pretty high up there. Same with “dudes” because everything is “dude”.
“Guys”, “dude”, and even “man” in some contexts are gender neutral
It’s not unusual, but I avoid it in favor of “hey, y’all.”
I usually just say “hey guys.”
I’m 44 and if I say “Hey girls” or “Hey ladies” to a bunch of girls, I sound creepy.
Absolutely, “Hey guys” goes with guys, gals, or a mix.
I usually say Hey Y’all
I typically say “Howdy” so have no gendered terms used in the greeting.
Yes, it’s normal. Sometimes really (extremely) uptight people get annoyed at this but it is normal.
Yes. Guys is not gendered when used to address a group.