Andronormativity

[andrewducker]

If I was checking that two males friends were coming over soon I'd say "You guys coming over soon." - and I went to say something like this on IM to Morag (about her and Erin coming over for BSG) and paused, unsure what the right thing to say was when talking to two female friends...
[Poll #1329081]

Comments

[henriksdal.livejournal.com]

One of the many joys of being Northern is that I have a plural, I'd say "You's coming over soon?"

[bracknellexile.livejournal.com]

"Guys" seems to be one of those words that's lost its gender in that context - at least it has in the way I speak at the mo.

[draconid.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I've always called my friends "guys" in a plural context - or generally "the guys". Not that I'd ever call a girl a "guy" singular though.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

IAWTC

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

"You guys". For sure.

[pizza.maircrosoft.com (from livejournal.com)]

tickyboxes!

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

Either that or "Where are you then?" :-)

[zz]

or just "you coming over soon?"

[cybik.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this for me too.

[rahaeli.livejournal.com]

In my dialect, "you guys" is specifically the second-person plural, and it's gender-neutral. (I am right on the geographical line between 2pl being "you guys" and it being "youse" or "alla youse".)

[figg.livejournal.com]

I would say 'You lot'

Aside: I use feminine words to refer to men a lot though.

I also call people duckie.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Any of the above EXCEPT "gals". I just wouldn't say it - no profound reason, just my vocabulary!

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

[girl-onthego.livejournal.com]

I think they're all valid. 'Guys' may cause some angst in some circles but I don't think my impression of either Morag or Erin is that they're pronoun-fiends. I'd probably say that 'you guys' or 'you two' is the most natural-sounding. Gals, unless you're from Texas, is a bit affected so it would depend on the tone of the invitation. "You people" sounds a bit impersonal.

Other options might include "you ladies," although unless it's coming from a woman that might be construed as condescending, or "you and erin", which specifies the particulars of who's included in the invitation.

My opinion generally is that whatever is most natural is probably fine, because anything else is going to sound like you stopped to think it out, which is kind of distasteful to realize in any situation.

black american english has a solution!

[autodidactic.livejournal.com]

Y'all.

Re: black american english has a solution!

[moniqueleigh]

Y'all is pretty much standard Southern American English, actually. There's some credence to be given to a theory that it actually came from the Scots-Irish phrase "ye aw" (or you all), especially considering exactly how many Southern Americans are of mixed Scots-Irish descent. Including myself. :)

Re: black american english has a solution!

[akicif.livejournal.com]

More believable if Scots-Irish (aka how folk speak in Norn Iron and/or "Ulster Scots") actually used that construction....

Re: black american english has a solution!

[moniqueleigh]

I'm sure folk in that area probably don't use the construction anymore. 'Tis a sometimes wonderful & often aggravating thing how the language changes for all areas.

Anyway, the theory is most put forward by linguist Michael Montgomery, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and Linguistics at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, whose evidence includes a letter written in 1737 by an Irish immigrant in New York to a friend back home. This construction eventually would be Americanized (or possibly one could say "Southernized" or "drawled"?) into "y'all."

Considering the "lazy speech" of my fellow Southerners, I can see an easy progression here: "ye aw" becomes "y'aw" which then becomes "y'all" as it gets drawn out further. I suspect Southern Americans are one of the few breeds of English-speakers that can make a one syllable word last 15 syllables (& turn three syllables into two, at best). *chuckles*

Re: black american english has a solution!

[akicif.livejournal.com]

Fair enough: I shouldn't have assumed current usage was being implied. And "aw" also matches with Scots "a'" as an abbreviation for "all", too....

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

I don't see the need for a plural if you're talking to them both at once. "Are you coming round?" is probably what I'd say. I'm not sure I ever use the word "guys", it just doesn't seem to fit with my dialect.

[sterlingspider.livejournal.com]

I would most likely use the plural "you", though I go through phases where I use "y'all" (I lived in Virginia for a few years when I was young) with "chicas", and "peoples" making occasional appearances.

I have been known to use "guys" (masculine pronouns being default in English and all) but I try not to.

[ekatarina.livejournal.com]

I would probably say "guys" or "two" about 60/40.

I also turn it up with "When are you two fabulous creatures coming over to decorate my couch so stylishly and intelligently as you do?"

But that is just me being me.

Ekatarina

[johncoxon.livejournal.com]

Gals, no. Girls, perhaps. Guys, yes. Two, yes. Check boxes? Should've been.

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

Y'all; you two; you guys. That's listed roughly in order of common day-to-day usage.

[cdave]

folks