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muntdefems: As the OP has been answered, I'll just go and ask it since I'm genuinely curious: once, a (masculine) guy from Texas told me that 'guys' is a gender-neutral vocative, or at least it's now used as such. As in, I could say "hey, guys" to a group of only females and they would see it as OK. Isn't that so?

EDIT: I see toxicTom agrees with that acquaintance of mine. :P
It varies depending on local culture.

There are definitely areas / groups I would not try to use it as a gender neutral term, because it really isn't.

There are areas / groups where it's a bit odd to use it for a mixed gender group but not a big deal and no one will mention it.

Y'all, everyone, and just leaving out group descriptors (ex, Hi! I have a question) are always neutral and often a better choice.
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tinyE: How about just saying "motherfuckers"?

Hey motherfuckers, how do I use the installer?
i like this idea.
high rated
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tinyE: How about just saying "motherfuckers"?

Hey motherfuckers, how do I use the installer?
It's not gender neutral. "Parentfuckers".
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tinyE: How about just saying "motherfuckers"?

Hey motherfuckers, how do I use the installer?
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ZFR: It's not gender neutral. "Parentfuckers".
Can't call the parents anymore. That offends care givers.

Having said that, I learned a long time ago not to call my clients "guys" either.
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HunchBluntley: Unless you want to go with the (very Southern/country-sounding) you all/y'all (or regionally variants like youse, most of which are also widely thought of as "uneducated"), there really is no existing substitute for gender-nonspecific guys that isn't needlessly wordy or stilted-sounding. (Personally, I often address mixed groups as folks, but that would probably be considered too rural or...well, folksy for most people.)
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dtgreene: Qutie often, there is a very easy solution: Just eliminate the word "guys" from the sentence and don't replace it with anything else.

In the case of the original post of this topic for example, one could just eliminate the first two words, and it wouldn't affect the message at all, but would remove the gendered term.
Of course. But there are many situations where one needs to differentiate between the singular you and the plural you. The preconceptions about terms like y'all being what they are, there are very few reasonable alternatives to guys.
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dtgreene: Qutie often, there is a very easy solution: Just eliminate the word "guys" from the sentence and don't replace it with anything else.

In the case of the original post of this topic for example, one could just eliminate the first two words, and it wouldn't affect the message at all, but would remove the gendered term.
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HunchBluntley: Of course. But there are many situations where one needs to differentiate between the singular you and the plural you. The preconceptions about terms like y'all being what they are, there are very few reasonable alternatives to guys.
The way I've learned is that "y'all" is singular, "all y'all" is plural.
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HunchBluntley: Not sure what it says about me that at first, my brain parsed the name of the first respondent to the pictured post as a misspelling of "analrimmer" =|
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Maighstir: Repressed urges? Troubled childhood?
Probably the former. My childhood was idyllic. Sometimes, my captors even let me listen to a radio!

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Maighstir: The way I've learned is that "y'all" is singular, "all y'all" is plural.
Y'all is already short for you all. You is singular, you all (or you-all) is plural. Anyone who uses y'all as a singular term -- or uses "all y'all" at all -- is a doofus. :P
Post edited June 21, 2018 by HunchBluntley