Does it happen only in America or in some other countries too? In which ones?
2006-07-09 06:24:55 · 14 answers · asked by Like 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
its mainly because societies that use english as its main language is masculine dominant...but on the other hand a group of guys can be called girls too...i remember my basketball coach calling the team a bunch of girls after we lost to a an inferior team ..so the terms really arent gender exclusive
2006-07-22 05:26:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think it has just become the genderless specific term for this day and age. I don't recall how it came about in my own use, but it certainly didn't come from any long study on how to put females down.
I can say to a mixed group - Come on guys lets go, intend for all to go, and all respond. The girls don't just sit there waiting for a gender call. So something must have changed with the social usage of this word.
On the contrary, I can still get a rise out of the boys when they are not responding by saying -- come on ladies, let's get with the program. The younger males get all huffy. The girls just laugh.
I will watch the answers here in detail. You have hit on a good topic for a word study and research paper in the field of semantics. With a little modification it might be accepted by some advisers as a topic for a Masters.
2006-07-18 14:15:07 · answer #2 · answered by Tommy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It could be the end product of our non-sexist society. It happens only in English speaking countries. Countries using Romance-based languages (French, Spanish, German etc.) have too many case declensions to ever call a girl a guy.
For example, in Spanish a girl is La Nina, and a boy is El Nino. To say La Nino is a glaring error. However, English doesn't fuss around with masculine or feminine words, so it has simply become a useful way to refer to a group of people, male, female or mixed groups.
2006-07-22 11:15:48 · answer #3 · answered by old lady 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The word,"GUYS", is being used as a pronoun knowingly or unknowingly OR being commonly used when they cannot distinguish between boys and girls OR used to give equal status to girls in the present changing society or used in a stylish way of addressing girls. Nothing is wrong because English is the most adultrated language which will be there, whereas pure language like Sanskrit struggling for its existence.
2006-07-20 21:18:26 · answer #4 · answered by gnphyd 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In many languages and cultures the masculine forms are also used for more general purposes.
In languages that show gender in grammar (for instance Latin, Spanish, etc.) the masculine forms are the default. Usually the masculine forms of words are the simpler ones, the feminine forms are derived.
A funny exception is German "Geschwester" (siblings), which derives from "Schwester" (sister).
2006-07-19 17:57:04 · answer #5 · answered by dutch_prof 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In english (and many latinate languages) a group of things are often masculine. In english espescially, the masculine often encompasses both masculine and feminine. "Mankind" means men and women both, for example.
In any languange that was formed by a male-dominated culture, this seems to be the case.
2006-07-09 06:35:47 · answer #6 · answered by Philyra_Rose 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I goes on everywhere in some form or another. Some people may say Hey,.."People" or refer to a group of girls as Hey Guys... It goes on and on. My girlfriend calls me her girlfriend and I am a man. The english language has been slaughtered and bastrdized. People are going around calling people all sorts of things that make little or no sense at all.
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Pete and Repeat were on the fence. Pete fell off. Who remained on the fence?
Pete and Repeat were on the fence. Pete fell off. Who remained on the fence?
OK☼
Pete and Repeat were on the fence. Pete fell off. Who remained on the fence?
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I was riding in a taxicab this morning and there was a female dispatcher on the two-way radio. She was dispatching the cabs to various addresses and the usual dispatch chatter was going on. Suddenly, the dispatcher asked?... Michael Hunt, are you out there... Mike? Do you read me?... Mike Hunt, Mike Hunt... Come in, ... Come In... Come in Mike Hunt. I don't know why this seems so funny to me- it was just a cab ride.
I couldn't stop laughing. I think something shot out of my nose!
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2006-07-18 06:48:37 · answer #7 · answered by ••Mott•• 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
in the 40's to mid 50's the phrase used to be longer with a separation as in "hey guys and gals come over here."
but as women became more liberated and their casual wear clothing became more masculine (wearing trousers and sneakers doing housework instead of skirts, aprons and pumps) the phrase became hey guys. This pretty much happened in all English speaking societies.
2006-07-09 06:35:59 · answer #8 · answered by coachelarose 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because "girl" has a negative connotation for adult women--it can seem dismissive or pejorative. Guys isn't gender-neutral, but there is no female equivalent of "guy," so guy has to work for both sexes. Girl, chick, gal, b****, ho, broad--none of them have the kind of flavor that "guy" has when referring to a male. "Guy" just means, y'know, a...guy. It doesn't mean a male is naive, underdeveloped, childish, slutty, problematic, annoying, bawdy...it doesn't have the negative associations that those words for females have. So we grrls are stuck with "guys." Oh, well.
2006-07-21 10:31:18 · answer #9 · answered by SlowClap 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I wish I had International Etiquette. If I had I would be able to answer this question much more smarter. However, I am a down under Philly chick.
2006-07-09 07:01:11 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋