What ever happened to "Gals"?~

Well for what it's worth, I still use "guys" and "gals" ... though it doesn't jar me too much to say "guys" and "girls" ... even "boys" and "girls." Yes, I do believe men are sometimes referred to (and even refer to themselves) as "boys" (while admitting some men take the moniker "boy" as an insult).

They say pick an age you like and stick to it. ;)

Re: boy = slave? Certainly used to ... Well, BDSM slaves get their night out once in awhile, don't they?

Guys' night out? Boys' night out? I think you could say either and get away with it ...

I admit "gals' night out" sounds awkward. No idea why.

Anyway, who can measure exactly how popular/unpopular guy, gal, girl, and boy is? I admit it seems like "gal" has slid down somewhat in popularity, but that's virtually just intuition on my part. I actually don't think it's slid down all *that* much. I always think of "gal" when I think of "guy."

Although, it's also true that "guys" is often used nowadays to denote a group of people of either or both genders. I do it. [shrug] The odd unpredictable evolution of language marches on. Note that this evolution doesn't always follow a logical path. People change; nations change; the world changes. With changes come "that awkward stage of" growing pains.

Re (from YouAreHere):
"Maybe language will turn around again and it'll be in favor once more. Who knows?"

Who indeed!

Everyone must use whatever terms/language feels most comfortable to theirselves at their particular times and contexts. How we speak is part of our style; ergo, a swatch of our personality.

Re (from Garriguette):
"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?"

Aha! Bad Wikisaurus, very very bad.

Outside that boo-boo, I think Wikisaurus mostly meant to show what synonyms *can* be used; not necessarily which synonyms *should* be used.

Re: gender-neutral pronouns ... always a safe bet for any occasion. But since I'm too sexy for my shirt, I'd proably walk into a bar and say, "Ladies." ;) "Hey hey don't fight, there's enough of me to go around."

Re: dudette ... Oxford Dictionary word? Probably not. Wiktionary word? Yep (though it's uncertain if dudette would work as an interjection). Hey at least I didn't have to get street dirty and ping Urban Dictionary for the info.

Re: wicked ... gnarly's good too! :)

Re (from YouAreHere):
"It tends to make sense that I'd grab bits and pieces that work in different situations. :)"

IMO, the English language is practically defined as a mass of bits and pieces we've grabbed that work in different situations. ;)

No doubt English's millions (billions?) of dialects and dialectal variations vary from State to State, town to town, and person to person.

Interesting future prospect: Our great-great-great-great grandkids may end up speaking a mishmash of languages all rolled into one. Say 40% English, 30% Spanish, 20% Chinese, and 10% Jive. ;)

Re: doll ... Wikisaurus missed that one! Oh the shame of it.

I admit I kind of think of "gal" as a word a Westerner (especially a cowboy) would use. (But I'm still comfortable using it, maybe because my folks and uncles and stuff were.)

Hey ... let's not forget "my brothers and my sisters." It's not just for church anymore!

Re (from Magdlyn):
"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."

Ah, again ... a datapoint that how I'm treated (and how safe I feel) influences how I'll feel about what I'm called. Hell me and the guys call each other "pigs" all the time and we think it's hilarious.

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

Heheh.

I don't think galroom would work though. (Gal bedroom? Hmmmm -- :eek:)
 
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Kevin, beautiful post.~

What about what is appropriate in a "professional" work place?~

Personally I think "boys and girls" and "guys and gals" are not "professional" and take on a whole new meaning in the work place than they often do "outside" the work place.~

I noticed one time at a DEP meeting for the military I was attending as a DEP'er that one the recruiters used the term "girls" to refer to the only female there.~

I asked to speak to him afterwards and informed him that referring to women in a "professional" workplace especially the military as "girls" is grounds for "sexual discrimination" for some and even though some might find it endearing others might not and the military takes any thing "sexual related" very seriously at least that's what they have been telling me so far.~

I told him I usually refer to them as "young women".~

The situation was particularly a social error, because it took place within a military recruiting office and from what I've learned so far: they want to be especially "politically correct" because they are the public "face" of their particular military branch.~

No harm was done I hope, the recruiter in question was very tired as it was from his wife having baby so maybe he was slipping a little, and I probably won't know if the female DEP'er took offence to it as she shipped out the next day.~
 
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Re:
"Kevin, beautiful post."

Thanks Colors.

Re:
"What about what is appropriate in a 'professional' work place?"

Do you mean, is "gal" appropriate in the workplace? I think you could get away with it in most workplaces. Maybe not the super-formal ones.

In a formal workplace, "men" and "women" will tend to the proper terms. "Gentlemen" and "ladies" for the really fancy places.

I don't think society's rules about what is or isn't the appropriate word/s for men and women are very cemented yet. There's some squishiness going on. I mostly try to just think of what words "feel" the most appropriate for the situation at hand.

And promptly prepare to apologize as necessary. ;)

Regards,
Kevin T.
 
Re:


Thanks Colors.

Re:


Do you mean, is "gal" appropriate in the workplace? I think you could get away with it in most workplaces. Maybe not the super-formal ones.

In a formal workplace, "men" and "women" will tend to the proper terms. "Gentlemen" and "ladies" for the really fancy places.

I don't think society's rules about what is or isn't the appropriate word/s for men and women are very cemented yet. There's some squishiness going on. I mostly try to just think of what words "feel" the most appropriate for the situation at hand.

And promptly prepare to apologize as necessary. ;)

Regards,
Kevin T.

I just got confirmation about "informal words" use in the military, it is not acceptable on-duty for any one to use these terms in reference to any individual but under certain circumstances these terms may be acceptable if addressing a large group, the exception is in the case of the Recruiters because Recruiters must be a sort of "hybrid" of "civilian and military talkers" in order to be approachable and an understandable inter-medium between the "Civilian world" and the "Military world".~

But a recruiter told us, "When in doubt, always use the most formal terms possible and in the military that is always the Rank and Last Name.~" Calling some one by their last name alone is only acceptable between you and some of the same rank as you and whom you might have a friendly relationship with.~
 
Ohh, the military and all its silly protocols. ;) Just yankin' your chain, have no fear.

Actually I think it's rather generalized human (both military and civilian) protocol, when addressing someone you just met, to speak to them somewhat formally and cautiously. Then as you get more familiar with them you use more casual pronouns ... maybe even pet (or rib-poking) names if you like each other enough!
 
I know Chad Vader (after being auto-tuned by Obama Girl -- try some YouTube searching and see if you can find it) says, "I may be a freak. But I want to get freaky ..."
 
Ohh, the military and all its silly protocols. ;) Just yankin' your chain, have no fear.

Actually I think it's rather generalized human (both military and civilian) protocol, when addressing someone you just met, to speak to them somewhat formally and cautiously. Then as you get more familiar with them you use more casual pronouns ... maybe even pet (or rib-poking) names if you like each other enough!

The difference is in the military you are not even allowed to be friends with some one of more thank 3 ranks difference than you.~

That's going to be a challenge, but I think I'll adapt.~

^_^

I know Chad Vader (after being auto-tuned by Obama Girl -- try some YouTube searching and see if you can find it) says, "I may be a freak. But I want to get freaky ..."

We're all freaks, because we are all unique.~
 
I know right? We're all like, freaks in a freaky world (and hey who doesn't want to get freaky, ;)).

I know military life will be tough (especially at first), but I am rooting for you and will continue to do so. If you must confine your friendships to within a rank or two, at least make those friendships count, and even if you can't be friends with a four-star general, you can still offer the gift of an honoring and respectful demeanor towards him/her. When one considers the literally deadly serious jobs the military has to do, it's no wonder they're so formal about everything. Sometimes in life you just choose to adhere to an organization's rules, in order to get the benefits that the organization offers.

Anyway, adapt to the utmost of your abilities (and probably avoid calling any lady officers "gal," amirite. :eek:).
 
I know right? We're all like, freaks in a freaky world (and hey who doesn't want to get freaky, ;)).

I know military life will be tough (especially at first), but I am rooting for you and will continue to do so. If you must confine your friendships to within a rank or two, at least make those friendships count, and even if you can't be friends with a four-star general, you can still offer the gift of an honoring and respectful demeanor towards him/her. When one considers the literally deadly serious jobs the military has to do, it's no wonder they're so formal about everything. Sometimes in life you just choose to adhere to an organization's rules, in order to get the benefits that the organization offers.

Anyway, adapt to the utmost of your abilities (and probably avoid calling any lady officers "gal," amirite. :eek:).

Thanks I like knowing that you are rooting for me, I didn't expect that and I appreciate it!~ ^_^
 
I've been using "gals" for decades... and was pretty surprised to hear that it's rated as outdated/unusual by native speakers (only about a year ago). But I may as well be generally out of touch. ;)

**"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.
Hehe, I've picked up "dudette" from R. five years ago or somesuch; I could hardly imagine going without that word anymore nowadays. And I've found you can use it in the sense of "whoa" just as well, if you don't mind sounding comical: "dudAAAAtte!" :D
 
I'm a gal; just look at my name! lol A lot of words really are regional. Guys and gals is a regular term for me, as is y'all of course. Or even "all y'all"! (Sorry, family joke.). I'm rarely comfortable being called a lady, as that brings a particular image of a proper Southern woman to mind, and I'm too informal for that. Not country or redneck, just casual. In a professional sense, I'll use men and women. Ladies and gentlemen tend to be reserved for black tie affairs unless I'm reminding someone to mind their manners.
 
I'm a gal; just look at my name! lol A lot of words really are regional. Guys and gals is a regular term for me, as is y'all of course. Or even "all y'all"! (Sorry, family joke.). I'm rarely comfortable being called a lady, as that brings a particular image of a proper Southern woman to mind, and I'm too informal for that. Not country or redneck, just casual. In a professional sense, I'll use men and women. Ladies and gentlemen tend to be reserved for black tie affairs unless I'm reminding someone to mind their manners.

Nice to meet a woman who is proud to call themselves' a "Gal"!~ ^_^
 
Thank you! To be fair, I also call myself a broad (I'm a tough broad, lol), a chick, and a babe. The hubby calls me scary. :p
 
Had to share this dialect map - totally pegged me as a New Englander, focused in the Boston area, and it grabbed "Providence" (since I grew up in RI) for my use of the word 'bubbler' for a drinking fountain. :)
 
Huh, that questionnaire didn't ask me for the water fountain word.

But it pegged me as from "New York [city]" "Yonkers" or "Baltimore." I'm from LINY, so pretty close
 
I don't think galroom would work though. (Gal bedroom? Hmmmm -- :eek:)

Well, we call our femininely decorated basement family room with our huge projector HDTV our "girl cave." Ironically.
 
Ha! Loved the dialect map. And yes, it had me pegged. Apparently, the little road that runs along a bigger road is only called a service road on the Gulf Coast. I think it cheated! :p
 
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