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What is a gender neutral replacement for man, guys, buddy, etc? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

414 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So I've realized that in conversations I'll use traditional terms for men as general terms for all genders, both singularly and for groups. I always mean it well, but I've been thinking that it's not as inclusive to women/trans people.

For example I would say:

"What's up guys?" "How's it going man?" "Good job, my dude!” etc.

Replacing these terms with person, people, etc sounds awkward. Y'all works but sounds very southern US (nowhere near where I am located) so it sounds out of place.

So what are some better options?

Edit: thanks for all the answers peoples, I appreciate the honest ones and some of the funny ones.

The simplest approach is to just drop the usage of guys, man, etc. Folks for groups and mate for singular appeal to me when I do want to add one in between friends.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Vosotros agrees.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Ustedes if you're less formal or you live outside Spain 😁

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

if you're less formal

What a fun way to phrase that. You're not wrong but it's making me giggle.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Or in German: euch

[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm under the impression that you pronounce it the same way this cat looks.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You know... that's about right.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

😂😂😂😂😂

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I still wonder why English (a Germanic language) doesn't have its own pronoun for the plural 2nd person like German (euch) or Dutch (jullie), I think it kinda helps with distinction between talking to one person and talking to multiple people.

The problem is... what pronoun should we choose? I think "yinz" would sound kinda cool, but nobody outside of a very specific spot in the US actually uses it (other than myself I guess).