११ सप्टेंबर, २०१९

Hey, guys...



I like the part about the etymology of "guy." I didn't know it's from the name Guy and the specific Guy, Guy Fawkes. I checked in the OED and this is the official origin of the common noun "guy."

It began with the effigy of Guy Fawkes, burnt on Guy Fawkes day. The effigy was called "a guy": "Once on a fifth of November I found a ‘Guy’ trusted to take care of himself there, while his proprietors had gone to dinner" (Charles Dickens, 1863).

From there it became "A person of grotesque appearance" — especially with respect to clothing, as in "We have far too many sculptured ‘Guys’ in the metropolis" (1880 Daily Tel.).

Finally, it was just "A man, fellow. originally U.S." Early examples:
1898 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel 22 Jan. 4/7 I s'pose you got a Bible you'll let a guy look into.
1904 Cincinnati Commercial Tribune 29 June 4 Mr. Bryan is a hefty guy when it comes to Democratic conventions and the platforms thereof.
1928 D. H. Lawrence in T.P.'s Weekly 7 July 333/3 I say to Mother: Show me somebody happy, then! And she shows me some guy, or some bright young thing, and gets mad when I say: See the pretty monkey!
The OED has a "Draft addition" from October 2011 accepting the word "As a form of address to a man" and "Also in plural as a form of address to a group of people, in later use sometimes a mixed or all-female group."
1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel i. 102 Say, yous guys, this is fellowworker McCreary....
1993 M. Crichton Disclosure i. 22 Fuck 'em all. This reorg sucks. I'm with you on this one, guy....
I love that the OED has a completely gratuitous, random "fuck."

Anyway, should you address groups that are not all men as "guys"? You should know that some people will (in some situations) regard you as casually noninclusive.

What if the people you're addressing are are male? I know of a woman whose husband fell into a fury and berated her publicly for referring to him and his male friends as "guys." He heard it as a putdown. I wasn't there, so I can't tell how wrong he may have been. I could imagine a woman saying "guys" in a negative way. In which case, it's not the word. It's the inflection.

How about addressing just one man as "guy"? Reminds me of this old Right Guard commercial:

१५३ टिप्पण्या:

paminwi म्हणाले...

I really hate it when a waiter/waitress says “hi, you guys, how are you tonight?”

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

‘Hey guys’ seems innocuous, because it is.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

If you're around those Sensitive People, you can say "hay guise!" instead.

JAORE म्हणाले...

Reprogramming our minds? Is that a racist, "Learn to code" dog whistle? Will there be electrodes involved?

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Ok, here's what they're leading up to:

"Greetings, comrades!"

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...

Huh. Who knew I had culturally appropriated part of my moniker from the Brits!

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I notice if someone addresses a group and says "hey guys"... they usually follow it up with a "...and gals".

I'm neutral. Say what you want. It is better to be accurate. I hope her lecture doesn't start a war.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

When I complained to my daughters twenty years ago that "hey guys" wasn't a proper way to address their girlfriends, they called me old-fashioned, but now they'll surely realize I was way ahead of my time.

n.n म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Y'all is good. Though at some point, hayseeds might feel offended, and suburbanites might feel demeaned.

n.n म्हणाले...

"small rope, chain, wire," 1620s, nautical; earlier "leader" (mid-14c.), from Old French guie "a guide," also "a crane, derrick," from guier, from Frankish *witan "show the way" or a similar Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *witanan "to look after, guard, ascribe to, reproach" (source also of German weisen "to show, point out," Old English witan "to reproach," wite "fine, penalty"), from PIE root *weid- "to see." Or from a related word in North Sea Germanic.

later

"fellow," 1847, American English; earlier, in British English (1836) "grotesquely or poorly dressed person," originally (1806) "effigy of Guy Fawkes," leader of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up British king and Parliament (Nov. 5, 1605). The effigies were paraded through the streets by children on the anniversary of the conspiracy. The male proper name is from French, related to Italian Guido.
- etymonline.com

The word "guy" mutated and acquired a negative connotation. Something similar happened with "conservative", and the normalization of strong negative associations, and "progress" or monotonic change that is associated with strong positive attributions, "liberal" or divergence with tolerance, etc. And, with further progress, "masculine" and "masculinity", "feminine" and "femininity", "gay", "baby", "reproduction", "procreation", "mother", "father", etc. have also undergone forced semantic changes succumbing to social progress.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

On a related subject, the only thing that beats the French pronunciation of the name Guy is the German pronunciation of the name Helmut.

Rocketeer म्हणाले...

"How do you do, fellow kids?"

Todd म्हणाले...

My "line in the sand" is women saying "bucks" as in "Can I borrow a few bucks?" That word when used to describe money does not sound right coming out of a woman's mouth, to my ear. I used to get onto my little sister a lot when we were young trying to get her to stop using that word.

Todd म्हणाले...

These days, "guys" does have more of a unisex feel to it.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

Try reprogramming my mind, bitch. I’ll kick you in your fucking arrogant ass.

readering म्हणाले...

Had to look up beyhive.

She kinda undermines herself at the very end, pairing it with a very cute laugh.

Arashi म्हणाले...

Well, you could just do what I do, combine 'he, she, it' into simply 'shit' and use that as your normative pronoun for everybody and all occaissions..

Or do what we did in the Navy, and just refer to everbody as 'bud'.

Though I do rather like y'all as a nice alternative.

But really - isn't there something real to be concerned about instead of the manufactured crisis of the day?

Sadly, probably not.

Wince म्हणाले...

Where she talks about feminism’s great task: “the general reprogramming of most people’s minds?”

All the Young Dudes

We never got it off on that revolution stuff
What a drag, too many snags
Now I've drunk a lot of wine and I'm feeling fine
Got to race some cat to bed
Oh, is that concrete all around
Or is it in my head?
Yeah
I'm a dude, dad

All the young dudes (I want to hear you)
Carry the news (I want to see you)
Boogaloo dudes (I want to relate to you)
Carry the news

stevew म्हणाले...

Never known anyone to have an issue with this usage. Sounds very First World Problem to me. Note that in these parts it's pronounced Gee, especially as a first name of a hockey player.

Gilbert Pinfold म्हणाले...

The commercial featured Chuck McCann, who had a kid’s TV show in New York in the ‘60’s. Funny guy.

n.n म्हणाले...

From leader to masculine to toxic. Semantic evolution forced by social progress... we'll have a gay olde time.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

this old Right Guard commercial:

Wow! I would've sworn that guy at the end was going to turn around and yell "Mom!", but it was "Mona!", which is almost as pitiful. Hard to believe that ad sold anything.

But I liked the officedroids chanting "ball point pen" at the end, consistent with the mysterious ways of the people of the '70s.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

Try reprogramming my mind, bitch. I’ll kick you in your fucking arrogant ass.

I suspect most Althouse commenters would think it improper to use the term "guys" to address a group that includes women, but a sizable portion will now think they have to just because some baby feminist says she agrees with them.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

My first true love was a transplant from Shaker Heights, Ohio and made friends out of everyone she met. She called everybody in a group You Guys. In honor of her I still see Guy as a term of warm respect.

JohnAnnArbor म्हणाले...

If they're complaining about crap like this, life must be pretty good. Right, guys?

Rick म्हणाले...

Anyway, should you address groups that are not all men as "guys"? You should know that some people will (in some situations) regard you as casually noninclusive.

That's why I do it. It's a good method to identify people unable to function in society.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

The proper term for a group of women is Dolls.

Wince म्हणाले...

Shouldn't Gillette change the name to "Left Guard"?

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

I suppose "Ladies and Gentlemen" is also right out since it is binary.

Todd म्हणाले...

Arashi said...
Though I do rather like y'all as a nice alternative.
9/11/19, 12:15 PM


I am having problems with the printer so I have not yet been able to print off the newsspeak dictionary updates for the day but I believe "y'all" is somehow racist...

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Of course, anyone who has played organized sports as actual guys is familiar with the coach using "Ladies" to address the team when it is losing.

JPS म्हणाले...

I'm starting to feel like Eddie Griffin in Undercover Brother:

"Uh, brother, can I get a list of the words that trigger these fits?"

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

@n.n. The OED gives that guy wire lineage a separate entry.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

Guy for man comes from the proper noun, a French name.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

I’ve got three grandchildren, two girls and a boy.

Everybody, including their mother, aunts and grandma, call the group “guys.”

What’s the problem?

dbp म्हणाले...

I can see the point Now This is trying to make. It could be mildly insulting to a select few people to address a mixed group as "guys".

But

You know what is 1,000 times more irritating and worthy of scorn?

Being told what words are acceptable by someone who has not been elected as police chief of other people's word choices. That's what.

FrankiM म्हणाले...

If you’re being informal, using the term guys is just fine, or guys and gals, but calling the entire group of people gals,well, it just won’t work.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

@dbp

Exactly.

The women of my generation have been ungodly obnoxious bitches and scolds.

Give it a break.

Quit creating the fucking New Man and New Woman. Quit being assholes.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Todd म्हणाले...

If one were inclined to chase weird theories for a cause of the increase in the number of "scolds". Once could sight a number of possible factors.

a) The easy of access to and the wide audience of social media giving a soapbox for any screed, whereas in the past only their immediate family and friends would be aware.

b) The proliferation of career women that choose to delay marriage and children while entering their prime nit-picking years. Having no husband or children to "correct" have to focus that energy on complete strangers.

c) a & b...

Just throwing these out there...

n.n म्हणाले...

The OED gives that guy wire lineage a separate entry.

Separate and later where it evolved with a negative sense.

Kevin म्हणाले...

As usual, Dave Chappelle has the right idea.

Rick म्हणाले...

Once you've fallen into the always-deleted category, there is no way to get back out, and to continue to try to comment is to harass me.

That's really not true is it?

FrankiM said...
9/11/19, 12:36 PM

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM म्हणाले...

oops-- Up!
We say 'guys' to all, and leave the toilet seat UP.

out of consideration.

n.n म्हणाले...

I suppose "Ladies and Gentlemen" is also right out since it is binary.

Not to mention a sense of conservative propriety, or worse, a perception of acting "white". The horror.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

Somebody wasted a lot of money trying to educate that stupid bitch.

n.n म्हणाले...

We should respect our roots and conform with social progress. Everyone should henceforth be addressed as fetus #1, #2, etc. or fetuses when addressing more than one. We can also use the socioscientific labels "womb bank" or "sperm depositer" when necessary to discern fetuses without emphasizing its genetic sex and phenotypic/medical gender.

Bilwick म्हणाले...

I can see why that husband thought it a put down. A few years ago someone in the media mentioned that we were in the throes of "Guy Mania," and I remember how there was a flurry of books and articles about guys. I'm a guy, in the sense of being of the male gender, but these articles would talk of guys as inherently low-brow. Guys like barbequing meat, guys like watching sports on tv, etc. Nothing wrong with any of those things, of course, but you would never see anything like, "Guys like reading books" or "Guys like going to art museums."

Unknown म्हणाले...

I grew up in the northeast and there is a strong culture of the non-gendered use of "you guys" in that region. To us it just does not mean "men," it never has, it means "people," it's completely inclusive. Since moving to another part of the country, I've been scolded by peers- we're millennials- that I "should know better" but I can't seem to pull off "y'all" with any kind of authenticity. If I'm addressing a group of all women, I've stopped using "you guys," but it remains my default in mixed company.

I Have Misplaced My Pants म्हणाले...

She's not the boss of me. I'm also not going to watch her stupid video, either.

Michael म्हणाले...

The whole problem here is the denigration of the perfectly good words "gal" and "gals." This probably comes from the desire to eliminate the term "gal Friday," which is fine. But, as is generally the case, Progressives have no limiting principle. Enough is never enough.

Boys and girls, guys and gals, men and women, ladies and gentlemen, maybe even lads and lassies, are all equivalents and perfectly good words. But since "gals" has been stigmatized, "guys" has to do double duty - or triple if you count the "y'all" usage.

As to the original author, all I can say is: go reprogram yourself.

reader म्हणाले...

In our house, family, friend group we refer to any group of people as “guys”. All male, all female, or mixed. If it is a singular person it’s “dude”.

In a different thread I think I referred to a gym employee as gym guy. Though the thought in my head was really “gym dude”.

About five years ago we had a gathering of my husband’s mother’s branch of the family some of whom are from the south. I was with a group of the women in the kitchen and my high school aged son walked up, asked me a question, and then left. The southern mom looked at me completely flabbergasted and said, “He just duded you!”

I think this is a deplorable thing. Trump gets this.

Craig Howard म्हणाले...

Does "dude" fall under the same rules of usage?

tcrosse म्हणाले...

In boot camp we were addressed as "Youse fucking guys"

Anthony म्हणाले...

Todd said...
These days, "guys" does have more of a unisex feel to it.


Yeah, when I go up to a couple of chicks I know at the gym I always say "Hi guys!"

I use "chicks" a lot.

E.g., "Hey, who's the new chick at the front desk?"

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent म्हणाले...

I prefer "cats and chicks". Middle-aged women don't mind.

Narr म्हणाले...

I address most groups of people as 'guys' normally, sometimes folks, sometimes people.

A younger female colleague and I had great fun greeting each other as 'Dude!' in as many accents, inflections, and settings as possible. And the majority of my female coworkers called groups guys.

Every time some questionnaire was sent out, some guys and gals would sqawk (squawk?) about the use of 'sex' rather than 'gender' (and vice-versa) . . . endless inanity.

Narr
Me Guy! Big Guy! Fun Guy! Guy!

Bruce Hayden म्हणाले...

“We say 'guys' to all, and leave the toilet seat UP.”

Makes sense to me. A lot more than the “rule” in our household that it must always be left down. My partner points out that that was the way that she was raised, and shows respect for women. I counter that the reason it was that way was was that they had 4-5 females and only 3 males in their household. In our house, the two bathrooms upstairs, with a 1-1 mix (my parents), the seats were usually left down. Downstairs (5-0 male), the seats were almost always left up. She is noticeably unimpressed when I point out that there was a study done that showed that leaving the seats where they last were (not putting the up or down afterwards) was more efficient. Some are weird this way.

Gk1 म्हणाले...

This is the kind of crap white progressives obsess over 24/7. So tiresome, so very tiresome. "FUCK OFF" how about that as an expression? A clear majority of people are tired of being hectored over common expressions by the perpetually butt hurt. Its a mugs game. I suggest we stop playing, now.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

What up hoes? works for me.

campy म्हणाले...

Yeah, when I go up to a couple of chicks I know at the gym I always say "Hi guys!"

I never use the word "chicks" that way. Broads hate it.

Anthony म्हणाले...

Dames. . . . . .

narciso म्हणाले...

this is how you get reavers, I mean incels, some people rebel against their conditioning,

Charlie म्हणाले...

My wife spent part of her youth in Pittsburgh where she learned to address any group of people as guys. It has always sounded rude and jarring to my southern ears, where we call everyone y'all. But like a lot of things these days, offense can be taken where none is intended. "Hi guys" has always been gender neutral, until about 30 minutes ago.

h म्हणाले...

So if you are addressing a group, and you want to know what individual members of the group think on the topic, I think the only safe thing to say is: "I am interested in the opinions of individuals in this audience."

You can't say:
"What do you think, guys?" (offensive to women)
"What do you think, guys and gals?" (offensive to those uncertain about their sexual identify)
"What do you people think?" (offensive to those who do not identify as "people")
"What do you think?" (offensive failure to use preferred pronouns)

wild chicken म्हणाले...

All this time I thought Guy was short for Guillaume.

Laslo Spatula म्हणाले...

In the US you can replace 'guys' and 'dudes' with 'lucky fuckers.'

Because if you were born here rather than a shit-hole country you are indeed a lucky fucker -- male, female, or otherwise.

I am Laslo.

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

In the 90s at a mall, I once saw a young woman (late teens) stop to tie her shoe while her group of friends (all female) continued walking. She yelled "Hey, guys, wait up!" to them.

I thought it an interesting use of language.

Ralph L म्हणाले...

The tweet keeps disappearing on me as the page refreshes.

Didn't that guy who complained about the chatter at the Democratic Socialist confab get blasted for addressing the other wackos present with "Hey, guys!"?

n.n म्हणाले...

She yelled "Hey, guys, wait up!" to them.

Historically and semantically correct.

She could also substitute chicks. What, you're too good for poultry?

walter म्हणाले...

"Hi folks" is an obvious option. But I'm sure someone is offended by that...

Hagar म्हणाले...

Rita Moreno: "HEY, YOU GUYS!!!"

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

I knew a southerner who thought it was strange that northerners called females "guys". I thought it was a more inclusive, less sexist usage, but the Woke know better than I.

JohnAnnArbor म्हणाले...

Laslo, your expertise is needed in the previous thread. The cousin one.

n.n म्हणाले...

"Hi folks" is an obvious option. But I'm sure someone is offended by that...

It's vulgar term used by urbane people to signal their contempt for "flyover" people... persons.

BarrySanders20 म्हणाले...

"There was a study done that showed that leaving the seats where they last were (not putting the up or down afterwards) was more efficient."

We have one upstairs bathroom. More girls than boys using. But I put the lid down to stop things I am holding (or dropping) from falling into the open toilet. Not very efficient to fish out the tube of toothpaste from the bottom of the toilet. The lid works pretty well.

Qwinn म्हणाले...

Bruce Hayden:

"shows respect for women"

I would LIKE it if the question "name a single way in which women are ever expected to show respect for men" could ever be answered, because I can't think of a single solitary one, but I realize men don't even get the level of respect required to be allowed to ask that question without being berated for it.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

Arashi said...

Or do what we did in the Navy, and just refer to everbody as 'bud'.

I'm holding out for a return to the days when 'Mac' was the standard generic appellation.

Professional lady म्हणाले...

There is a very good reason for putting the toilet seat down when there are females (dare I say "gals"?) in the household. For females going to the bathroom at 2am in the dark when the seat is left up can result in rear end in the toilet. This is a very uncomfortable and potentially injurious situation. This is not likely to happen to guys (I hope no one is offended by me using this term but it seemed apropos). Therefore, it follows that toilet seat DOWN should always be the default.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

A clear majority of people are tired of being hectored over common expressions by the perpetually butt hurt. Its a mugs game. I suggest we stop playing, now.

That statement bears repeating.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

All this time I thought Guy was short for Guillaume.

Since Guillaume is French for William, the short version should be Gwill.

Dust Bunny Queen म्हणाले...

For addressing a group of people of mixed genders, and even mixed ages, as "you guys".

You should know that some people will (in some situations) regard you as casually noninclusive.

I say fuck 'em. How about y'all stop being such wilting widdle flowers, delicate melting snowflakes. "YOU PEOPLE" who are so oversensitive suck. Toughen up Buttercup.

Is that better?

Real American म्हणाले...

Anyway, should you address groups that are not all men as "guys"? You should know that some people will (in some situations) regard you as casually noninclusive.

Correct, and there is a term for people that think like that: asshole.

If you address a group of people as "you guys" you are necessarily including everyone there, including females. just like "mankind" includes all men and women and women are allowed down manholes. I've heard a woman call a group of women "you guys".

This is another one of those mundane everyday things that wokejunkies are trying to change so they can get their daily wokehigh, and makes themselves feel sufficiently woke but doesn't change anything and only irritates normal people and doesn't truly last. Plus, they're wrong about it.

Qwinn म्हणाले...

Professional lady:

The thing is, half the times that we men go to the bathroom at 2am, we need to sit down too. I wonder what mechanism keeps us from falling into the toilet seat when it is up and we need to "number two".

hstad म्हणाले...

Listening to a 20 something feminist mouthpiece lecturing us about language - LOL! Sweet!

Blogger Ann Althouse said...
"Guy for man comes from the proper noun, a French name. 9/11/19, 12:32 PM"

So true, but why stop there? Before that Old German and before that, etc., etc.

Going back that far has no relation to (before the feminist language police) today's meaning.

n.n म्हणाले...

Correct, and there is a term for people that think like that: asshole.

Rear or back hole. Nether hole? Perhaps posterior, if you're feeling particularly drowsy ("woke").

Ralph L म्हणाले...

it follows that toilet seat DOWN should always be the default.

That's why a married guy invented the nightlight.

ken in tx म्हणाले...

Unnecessary politicization of a word, but if this point of view leads to fewer restaurant people calling my wife and me "You guys" I will be happy. Now, can we somehow politicize "Grab" as in "I'll grab you a menu and silverware."

ConradBibby म्हणाले...

Young adults now all seem to use "guys" to refer to either sex. I think the assumption is that any female who might otherwise take offense at being referred to as a "guy" has the choice to hear it as irony.

The most charming usage is when a woman refers to herself or another woman as a "nice guy," as in, "Here I was just trying to be a nice guy and help her out and she's gets all offended."

Someone above mentioned waiters and waitresses who call all groups of diners "guys." I don't have a problem with that. I do have a problem with "no problem," as in, CUSTOMER: "I guess I'll have the sea bass special": WAITRESS: "No problem." Of course it's "no problem" for me to order a dish at a restaurant and for the waitress to bring it to me. It's what we're both there for. She shouldn't respond as if she's doing me a favor.

Kevin म्हणाले...

How could Althouse have missed the great Rita Moreno?

Rabel म्हणाले...

Althouse said,

"I love that the OED has a completely gratuitous, random 'fuck.'"

Why?

Sebastian म्हणाले...

Isn't this a little old hat? Several years ago, I heard Douglas Hofstadter go on and on about the sexist use of guys.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

Are we moving away from or toward more gendering?

Personally I've generally taken the term "guys" to be a more genderless term when used casually. And I assumed that that would be thought of as a Good Thing by our Deciders and Social Betters. I mean, female actors are often not referred to as "actresses" much any more. But this seems to imply that gendering is a desirable thing? I'm confused.

Kevin म्हणाले...

Navin R. Johnson: These hoodlums are dangerous. I think we oughta get out of here before she sees us.

Marie: She?

Navin R. Johnson: What?

Marie: You said she.

Navin R. Johnson: No! No! I always call a gang "she". It's like when you call a boat "she", or a hurricane "she".

Marie: Or a girl?

Navin R. Johnson: A girl, you can call a girl she, that's just one of the many things you can call she.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

I never use the word "chicks" that way. Broads hate it.

I see what you did there.

Broads is kind of age-ist. If they have great gams, Dolls would be appropriate.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM म्हणाले...

Hey Guys!
Congrats on taking 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place in Women's Track!

The Vault Dweller म्हणाले...

Her comparison of 'Guys' to 'Gals' is pretty dishonest. She even acknowledged that while guy and guys can mean male and males, it also can be gender neutral. Gal and Gals is definitely not gender neutral. Nor would a male term like gentleman or gentlemen be gender neutral.

Also I one hundred percent do not care about someone's feeling of being non-gender or gender-fluid. David Bowie can dress up like Ziggy Stardust all he wants, he is still David Bowie. (he didn't die he just now lives on the moon)

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

Professional lady said...
...it follows that toilet seat DOWN should always be the default.

Personally, I think you should be happy I bothered to raise the seat in the first place...

Sigivald म्हणाले...

You should know that some people will (in some situations) regard you as casually noninclusive.

I don't have to care what "some people" think, in random casual use.

(I will tailor language to specific audiences, but that's consideration of special desires, not a moral duty.)

Lucien म्हणाले...

Personally, I’v always appreciated a perfectly gratuitous random fuck — which is even more safe when she uses and OED.

mikee म्हणाले...

I, for one, appreciate being told my group greeting was non-inclusive and offensive. That tells me directly who needs to be ignored as long as I work with them, because they are stupid and/or crazy. I refuse to submit my intent, the very meaning of the words I use, to the malevolent definition of someone else.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM म्हणाले...

let's all pitch in
and get that SJW a couple of tix to see "Guys And Dolls"
on Broadway.

BJM म्हणाले...

Althouse said "Guy for man comes from the proper noun, a French name."

Guy (Gi) is derivative of "Guido" a given name Latinised from the Old High German name "Wido" that originated in Medieval Italy.

However, one suspects that the English given name Guy is an Anglicized shortened version of Guillaume which arrived with the Normans.

BTW- The word Dude(s) has become the most current Guy(s) alternative...is that usage also now discouraged or does it abide?

The Vault Dweller म्हणाले...

I will also add, that I don't think all uses of guy can be gender neutral either. I think the singular guy is still probably mainly viewed as masculine as well as specifically the term, 'one of the guys.'

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM म्हणाले...

@Ignorance is Bliss
good point!
btw- how are you holding up? Disregard the question if you dont feel up to it-
we understand.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

Personally, I think you should be happy I bothered to raise the seat in the first place...

Exactly!!

Ralph L म्हणाले...

Mr. Bryan is a hefty guy when it comes to Democratic conventions and the platforms thereof.

They learned to come up with bigger planks.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

Gillette was woke in '76.

Jim at म्हणाले...

Rita Moreno: "HEY, YOU GUYS!!!"

That was my first thought.

ken in tx म्हणाले...

I always insisted that my 6th grade students call me Mister Dude if they were tempted to call me dude.

chuck म्हणाले...

I don't know about y'all, you guys seem OK to me.

chuck म्हणाले...

As toilet seats, I leave them up to respect thirsty cats and dogs.

Clyde म्हणाले...

There are too many guys (of both sexes -- yes, only two!) out there looking for something to be offended about. At this point, I no longer care if people are offended by silly stuff like this. If that makes me a bad person, I don't care about that either.

Meade म्हणाले...

Sorry, did you hear "guy?"
I need to do a better job of enunciating: "Gyne."

Clyde म्हणाले...

"Folks" works well for groups of people as well, regardless of gender composition.

Phil 314 म्हणाले...

As I moved from the East I've adapted the genius of "y'all"

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

“So true, but why stop there? Before that Old German and before that, etc., etc.”

I wasn’t trying to stop there only to establish that the guy in guy wire comes from a different lineage.

Rusty म्हणाले...

I use ,"you lot" .As in ,"You lot are a bunch of simple fucks, aren't you." Includes both men and women.

Narr म्हणाले...

Wait . . . those things go up and down? Just kidding, I've used one for years.

Before a recent medical procedure, I experienced what few guys (and presumably fewer gals) have-- 2AM, on my seat of ease, I lived the old joke with the punchline--

Yeah, and deep too!

But not in a good way.

Narr
It's a scrote thang, you wouldn't understand

LA_Bob म्हणाले...

Didn't Tracy Ullman try to reprogram some "so woke" minds?

reader म्हणाले...

When my family irritates me I refer to them as you people.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Guys used to be just boys/men. But then girls used to avoid first names like "Ryan" or "Mackenzie" "Ashley" or "Brook" or "Hillary".

Some times change. Besides, No man has ever called me "Guy". Probably because its too close to "Gay". And that can cause trouble.

rcocean म्हणाले...

I usually address mixed groups as "Herrenvolk". Most people are flattered.

rcocean म्हणाले...

William Jennings Bryan doesn't get tagged enough. He ran for President 3 times, y'know.

Jaq म्हणाले...

“Mona!”

I din’t really snap on that commercial until I heard that line at the end. Then in all came back. There were a lot of “Mona!” commercials, I think.

"When my family irritates me I refer to them as you people.”

I like “you lot” myself.

Jaq म्हणाले...

"Guy (Gi) is derivative of "Guido" a given name Latinised from the Old High German name "Wido" that originated in Medieval Italy. “

For a long time I read “Guildofcannonballs” as “Guido Cannonballs”

Jaq म्हणाले...

Like “Joey Bag of Donuts."

Anthony म्हणाले...

God, just always put both seat and lid down. It's not that hard.

M.E. म्हणाले...

She thinks she's so woke? Ha! She forgot to mention "zi" and zir" in her litany of preferred pronouns.

There's also a deep, depressing, terrible irony that she talks about the dangers of ignoring personhood and of dehumanizing people - and yet believes that dehumanizing an unborn person is a woman's right. Rip that unborn he, she, it, they, or zir to shreds, who cares, it's a woman's right to kill her children.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil म्हणाले...

Many Northerners (like myself) have long used "hey, you guys" (or in NY "youse guys") when addressing a group of people in a casual situation, whether they are all male or not. That's because we Yankees don't use the excellent "y'all" as a second person plural. It never occurred to me or anybody I knew to take offense.

Art in LA म्हणाले...

Several guys(!)/folks(?) here have mentioned Rita Moreno ... who else watched "The Electric Company"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BxXVz2jNxw

Jaq म्हणाले...

"It never occurred to me or anybody I knew to take offense.”

Hence the need for re-programming.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

It's important we add to the pile of things we must create as offensive.

Biff म्हणाले...

I have to police my language carefully to ensure that I don't use extremely common words so that an extremely small group of people don't mistakenly feel excluded.

Meanwhile, if I feel excluded or in any way offended by other people using language historically and usually still regarded as profane, I need to STFU and die.

Got it.

And people wonder why suicide rates are up. Everything is insane.

renowebb म्हणाले...

Magnum PI

Narr म्हणाले...

Friends! Romans! Countrymen!

Narr
Nobody salutates like that any more

Jaq म्हणाले...

All you have to do Biff, is keep track of the small list of people you are allowed to mock and deride. For instance, you can still tell “Pollock” jokes, or Irish jokes, as long as you generalize the butt of the jokes to white men in general.

Jaq म्हणाले...

“A white guy, a white guy, and a white guy walk into a bar...."

Lazarus म्हणाले...

"And the lady from the provinces, who dresses like a guy ..."

Gilbert and Sullivan weren't talking about transvestism in The Mikado. "Dresses like a guy" meant in raggedy old clothes like a scarecrow.

But when they used the "n word" in the same song, they were talking about what you would think they were talking about.

अनामित म्हणाले...

"Hey, guys" is a pure Midwesternism. It has applied to male guys and female guys for decades.
You betcha it is. Midwesterners were way ahead of history, eliminating the two genders long ago.

ZZMike म्हणाले...

Old American tourist question: "Who's this guy Fawkes?"

Milwaukie guy म्हणाले...

Going out with the guys is always more fun when one of the crew is a gal-guy.

dbp म्हणाले...

Not to change the subject, but our hostess has shown an interest in fashion and I feel like there is an hard to approach, but valid, issue with the Now This' makeup choices.

She is wearing lip coloring that is significantly lighter than her skin-tone. This is odd-looking and jarring. Not only does it make her mouth seem out of proportion, it really, to me, hinted at the appearance achieved when someone is in blackface. I think a better look is achieved with dark rich reds, plums and such.

C R Krieger म्हणाले...

Rabel said...
Althouse said,
"I love that the OED has a completely gratuitous, random 'fuck.'"
Why?
Maybe she never heard the song line: F them all, F them all, the long, the short and the tall (or the needle, the airspeed, the ball)

Regards  —  Cliff

mrams म्हणाले...

Would you prefer 'you broads?'

ALP म्हणाले...

My idea of calling everyone "Unit Homo sapien" looks pretty good right now, doesn't it? Only aliens from outer space parading as humans will find that offensive.

J L Oliver म्हणाले...

I'm so confused. My neighbor's daughters are Emerson, Charlie and I know at least one Sydney (a girl) and many, many more examples. Calling a bunch of girls 'guys' is wrong, but calling one girl a guy is PROGRESS.

Qwinn म्हणाले...

Did no one else notice that she ends that ridiculous spiel with "Hey guys, thanks for watching, make sure to subscribe"?

stlcdr म्हणाले...

Did she post this on AITA reddit?

Leland म्हणाले...

I don't want to upend a longstanding practice.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

"I always insisted that my 6th grade students call me Mister Dude if they were tempted to call me dude."

Or Duderino, if you're not into the brevity thing.

Narr म्हणाले...

"Carbon based unit" covers everything, I think.

Narr
None of this 'creature of light' bullshit