Serious question about the words man and woman, guy and girl: When writing to someone informally and you mention you know someone who happens to be between the ages of 14-35, if its a male, you wouldnt say I know a man because it sounds like this person is to be regarded formally, their maturity seems at the forefront, and yes while technically an 18 year old is a man, nobody says I know an 18 year old man.... You say the word guy...Guy is a great informal male ageless pronoun. But what do you say for a female between those ages without sounding too formal? Woman seems to have the same issues as man around projecting maturity and formality first, and seems particularly weird when they are a teenager. BUT Girl does not have the same effect as guy. Girl seems to suggest a certain level of immaturity. Lots of women dont like being called girl. So then what is effectively the female version of guy?
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:24:39 +0000