you guys

[Sylvia Swift]

i grew up in wyoming (you guys land) and spent summers in tennessee
(you all land) and cannot get by without a you-plural that is
distinct from you-singular.   i often use guy/guys as a gender
neutral placeholder for person/persons.  this worked fine for me in
wyoming, rhode island, and oregon.  here in california, i am
"corrected" several times a day by interlocuters who think i have
misidentified the gender of the person for whom the place is being
held in my utterance.

i persist in using guy/guys this way.  i am a film guy, the woman who
takes care of the vacation and sick leave  is the timesheet guy, the
woman we hired yesterday is the new guy, and so on.

sylvia swift
madonna at socrates.berkeley.edu