What ever happened to "Gals"?~

ColorsWolf

New member
What ever happened to "Gals"?~

"Girls" having its' origins in meaning a "young, usually immature, unripe, naive, female" usually most commonly in referrence to children has been popular throughout the pre-50's, 50's, and beyond as a form of sexual discrimination and as a self-identity as a "female who is free from marriage or very spontaneous or youthful".~

"Women" as the opposite of "Girls" has been associated with "maturity, knowledge, wise, grown, ripe" but it also has been associated with "old or almost dead, old-fashioned, no fun" especially in today's generation.~

My question is: "Guys" is often used as a catch-all phrase for all "males" regardless of age or nature, what ever happened to the usage of its' "female" equivalent "Gals"?~
 
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People wanted to stop referring to grown women as children. Guys isn't a variant of boys like gals is q varient of girls.
 
In New England, "guys" also tends to be a catch-all type of phrase, somewhat similar to the South's "y'all". But I digress.

How about "ladies"? I tend to use that one.
 
Lady is a loaded word though. Women is PC.
 
And the funny thing is, it's mostly colloquialisms anyway. My female friends and I use "ladies" among ourselves (some use "gals" or call each other "doll" or "chick" once in a while). There's an email thread among us with the subject of "Girls' Night Out" right now.

So... I don't know. The words we use change depending on what location we're in, what generation we're from, what group of people we're in, etc. "Gals" sounds funny to me, personally, so that's why *I* won't use it. I'd rather just go with the flow and use the words people are comfortable with, since they aren't personally important enough to me (in this case) for me to weigh in heavily either way.
 
Gal isn't a word in my vocabulary. I have never heard anyone called "gal".. might be southern thing or something. In fact, I have only ever read the word, I don't think I have ever heard it verbalized..

"Guys" doesn't feel like it relates to gals. If we had a wordsmith in the group, I think it might be more regional.

My female friends call themselves chicks, girls, women.. people.. label doesn't mean much to them..
 
I refer to myself as a slut and my girlfriend, oops, female partner, refers to herself as a whore. Problem solved!

I like the old tune from South Pacific, There Ain't Nothing Like a Dame.

Cupcake, bimbo, doll, lady, gal, chick, ho, skirt, gal, whatever, CW! Language evolves.
 
Here's the official list of synonyms from Wikisaurus:

  • babe
  • bint (UK)
  • bird [WS] (UK)
  • broad (US)
  • chica
  • chick
  • dame (US)
  • female [WS]
  • gal
  • girl [WS]
  • goddess
  • hen
  • ho (US, offensive)
  • lady
  • sheila (Australia)
  • skirt (US)
  • twist (US, offensive)
  • woman
  • womyn
  • wimmin
Lots to choose from! Just pick what calls to you is what I say and run with it. (I myself like to mix it up depending on the context.)
 
I lived in an area with LOTS of aussies for about 12 years. Sheila or sheela is very common.. and still makes me chuckle when I hear it.
 
Sorry, but I like to use properly paired words as they were meant to when they were first formed.~

I will use the word "girls" only if I also use the word "boys".

I will not use the word "guys" unless I also use its' proper equivalent opposite "gals".~

"Ladies" and "Gentlemen".~

"Men" and "Women".~

"Dude" and "Dudette".~

"Goddess" and "God".~

"Sir" and "Ma'am".~

"Mister" and "Miss".~

"Master" and "Mistress".~

etc.

Using improper words that are not paired together as if they were paired together is confusing to me.~
 
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Sorry, but I like to use properly paired words as they were meant to when they were first formed.~

Depending on the context, there may not be a valid pairing (as in my "Girls' Night Out" emails from my friends). I agree that using mismatched word (other than for effect, maybe) would be jarring, but I don't think that's what we're talking about here.
 
Depending on the context, there may not be a valid pairing (as in my "Girls' Night Out" emails from my friends). I agree that using mismatched word (other than for effect, maybe) would be jarring, but I don't think that's what we're talking about here.

Then I believe you are mistaken.~

This is all relevant to why "gals" is not as commonly used as it used to be as "guys" was and is.~

Why exactly is "girls" more popular than "guys" like "girls night out"?~

Sure some people use the term "boys night out", but they also use the term "guys night out": how is this more popular than "gals night out"?~
 
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Here's the official list of synonyms from Wikisaurus:

  • babe
  • bint (UK)
  • bird [WS] (UK)
  • broad (US)
  • chica
  • chick
  • dame (US)
  • female [WS]
  • gal
  • girl [WS]
  • goddess
  • hen
  • ho (US, offensive)
  • lady
  • sheila (Australia)
  • skirt (US)
  • twist (US, offensive)
  • woman
  • womyn
  • wimmin
Lots to choose from! Just pick what calls to you is what I say and run with it. (I myself like to mix it up depending on the context.)

Hm. I would be troubled to be addressed by a number of words on that list that aren't flagged as offensive. Is "Bint" is ever not used as a slur? (I know it's the standard term for "girl" in Arabic-- just talking about English here.) I never hear "broad" or "dame" used unless someone's imitating 1950's-style sexism or singing show tunes. And "female" used as a noun makes me think of wildlife programming (e.g., "the female of the species bites off the head of the male at climax").

I used to address a group of female friends, in person or over e-mail with "Hey, ladies!" Over time I've gravitated toward "Hey, y'all*," or "Hiya, people!" Their gender isn't essential to the message that follows the salutation, and I don't like the class-related baggage of the word "ladies." If I were talking about heading out with these friends, I'd be more apt to say, "I'm hanging out with L and S tonight" than to say anything about "ladies' night."

*I'm not southern. I grew up in "you guys" territory, wherein "guys" was not gender-specific.** But rooming with a southerner for a few years sold me on the usefulness of "y'all" in non-sexist communication.

**"Dudette" sounds comic to me, because where I live now, "dude" is less often used as a marker of direct address and more often used as a synonym for "whoa," especially if pronounced with an elongated vowel.
 
*I'm not southern. I grew up in "you guys" territory, wherein "guys" was not gender-specific.** But rooming with a southerner for a few years sold me on the usefulness of "y'all" in non-sexist communication.

That sounds very strange to me, "Gals" has always been the male equivalent of "Guys" ever since I learned of the existence of both of these words, so calling "women" "guys" is like calling all "women": "men", to me.~
 
*I'm not southern. I grew up in "you guys" territory, wherein "guys" was not gender-specific.** But rooming with a southerner for a few years sold me on the usefulness of "y'all" in non-sexist communication.

I grew up with "you guys" as synonymous with "y'all" as well. Then again, I grew up with "wicked" being a modifier for all things awesome, so there ya go. :)

I've actually taken on the use of "y'all" from time to time, when the conversation calls for it, even though I've lived in New England my entire life. I figure I'm something of a mimic anyway (mannerisms and accents), purely by osmosis and not on purpose... it tends to make sense that I'd grab bits and pieces that work in different situations. :)
 
YouAreHere said:
Depending on the context, there may not be a valid pairing (as in my "Girls' Night Out" emails from my friends). I agree that using mismatched word (other than for effect, maybe) would be jarring, but I don't think that's what we're talking about here.
Then I believe you are mistaken.~

This is all relevant to why "gals" is not as commonly used as it used to be as "guys" was and is.~

Why exactly is "girls" more popular than "guys" like "girls night out"?~

Sure some people use the term "boys night out", but they also use the term "guys night out": how is this more popular than "gals night out"?~

So your point is that, if "guys" is more popular among men, then "gals" should be more popular among women?

But it's not. At least in this area. Maybe in a different region, it's different?
Why? I'm not sure, and I guess I'll let the etymologists get into that.

There are still some female-descriptive terms that don't have a pairing ("chick"), or some that have a many-to-one relationship ("guys and gals", "guys and dolls"), so it (like all language) isn't cut and dried.

But why isn't "gal" used more often? I gave *my* reason - it sounds odd. Maybe it sounds a bit "pulp fiction novel/noir" for me... sort of like "dame" or "doll" (which a couple friends of mine *do* use). Maybe language will turn around again and it'll be in favor once more. Who knows?

Time to take my gams and go. ;)
 
So your point is that, if "guys" is more popular among men, then "gals" should be more popular among women?

But it's not. At least in this area. Maybe in a different region, it's different?
Why? I'm not sure, and I guess I'll let the etymologists get into that.

There are still some female-descriptive terms that don't have a pairing ("chick"), or some that have a many-to-one relationship ("guys and gals", "guys and dolls"), so it (like all language) isn't cut and dried.

But why isn't "gal" used more often? I gave *my* reason - it sounds odd. Maybe it sounds a bit "pulp fiction novel/noir" for me... sort of like "dame" or "doll" (which a couple friends of mine *do* use). Maybe language will turn around again and it'll be in favor once more. Who knows?

Time to take my gams and go. ;)

Well, thank you for participating in this conversation.~ ^_^
 
Probably "gals" went out of style in the feminist era of the 70s, when women objected to being called girls. It felt belittling. Especially since you'd see the term girl paired with man ALL the time.

"Boy" is seen as derogatory to men. Especially since white people used to call Black men "boy" all the time. So, when boy was dropped to refer to an adult male, girl (or the slang for that, gal) was also dropped.

Just like the "N" word being used amongst some AAs as a reclaiming, girl can be used amongst women. It is one thing to be belittled and patronized by being called a girl by men, it is another thing to feel enjoyably youthful when women bond with their female friends and call them girls.

Try this on: my girlfriend and I sleep and have sex together in the "master" bedroom. Should we call it the "mistress" bedroom?
 
Probably "gals" went out of style in the feminist era of the 70s, when women objected to being called girls. It felt belittling. Especially since you'd see the term girl paired with man ALL the time.

"Boy" is seen as derogatory to men. Especially since white people used to call Black men "boy" all the time. So, when boy was dropped to refer to an adult male, girl (or the slang for that, gal) was also dropped.

Just like the "N" word being used amongst some AAs as a reclaiming, girl can be used amongst women. It is one thing to be belittled and patronized by being called a girl by men, it is another thing to feel enjoyably youthful when women bond with their female friends and call them girls.

Try this on: my girlfriend and I sleep and have sex together in the "master" bedroom. Should we call it the "mistress" bedroom?

In my opinion: It's a bedroom, it shouldn't have a sex to begin with, unless one of you and NOT both of you "own" it.~

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!~ ^_^

It seems when a word has been used in a insulting way then it falls out of favor regardless of what the word actually means, such as the word that was used to refer to African American slaves as from my understanding it was simply an adaptation to English of the Spanish word for "Black": "Negro" (NEH-growh (Note that the Spanish r here is pronounced with a tap of the tongue against the front of the palate.)).~

Our words in English often originate from other languages.~
 
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