Another kind of buddy: ''guy''

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Fri Jun 15 04:16:18 UTC 2007


At 6/14/2007 11:57 PM, RonButtersworth wrote:
>I am talking about the vocative of address, as in, "Guy, you forgot to zip up
>your pants."
>
>It is not rare.

My apologies.  Since I don't go to bars, I don't go to gay bars
either.  (Impeccable logical conclusion, I believe.)

Joel


>In a message dated 6/14/07 11:37:28 PM, Berson at ATT.NET writes:
>
>
> > At 6/14/2007 11:12 PM, RonButters wrote:
> > >Is it only gay men who address each other as "guy"?
> >
> > I think lots of younger-than-I men and women, and boys and girls,
> > refer to each other as "guys" -- "you guys" -- without distinction as
> > to the gender of the guys.  I've even used it myself, addressing
> > youngsters:  "You guys need to be quieter in the library."  But of
> > the singular I do not speak; surely the vocative singular (if I'm
> > using the right term) must be rare.
> >
> > Joel
> >
>
>
>
>
>**************************************
>  See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list