"guy''

[Jonathan Lighter]

HDAS:

  1927 Eugene O'Neill, in _Sel. Letters_ 363: She is a "real guy."  You'd like her immensely.

  1929 Asch _Pay Day_ 14: Be a good guy, Ma, and wait a couple of days.

  1934 Duff & Sauber _20 Million Sweethearts_ (film): She'll understand. She's a great guy.

  Etc., etc.

  Obviously these particular exx. include adjs. and are to some degree figurative, but the fact remains that they refer to a female human being as a "guy."  Hence the semi-pronoun "you guys"
  As we know, there are different levels of synonymy.  Literal "guy" does not yet equal literal "girl" or "woman."  But figuratively it has for decades.

  Sometimes I think I've been wasting my time all these years.  And - it's funny - other times I know it.

  JL

sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: sagehen
Subject: Re: "guy''
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>Joel S. Berson wrote:
>> At 6/15/2007 08:13 AM, Jon L. wrote:
>>> "Guy" has been America's slang/colloquial term of choice for male
>>> human beings for well over a century; so more specific nuances are
>>> inevitable. (Gays look for "guys." So do "gals." Is that
>>> linguistically noteworthy? Dunno.)
>>
>> Is it linguistically noteworthy that it is also being used today to
>> refer to females, including by females? What date should one look to beat?
>
>1963 or so. I remember arguments with sixth grade classmates about
>whether "you guys" referring to a group of girls was inaccurate and/or
>offensive.

>Alice Faber
~~~~~~~~~~
We addressed our three daughters, born '53 to '57, as "you kids" or "you
guys" indiscriminately, from their earliest days.
Singular "guy," applied to a woman or girl, in my experience, wasn't heard
until the late '60s.
"You guys" is so prevalent nowadays that I wonder if it's making any
inroads into "y'all."
AM

=<_ >^ =<_ >^ =<_ >^ =<_ >^
~~~/ \~~~~~/ \~~~~~/ \~~~~~/ \~~~~

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