I am glad you would not use “you guys” in writing. At work, it’s often wise to be politically correct because we deal with many people who have sensibilities that are different ours. It’s just something I have heard.īill, thanks for weighing in. I do not have expertise in this area though. I have heard that Spanish-speaking people now use both terms–for example, “amigos y amigas”–rather than just the masculine form. Jason, thanks for your point about other languages. I never use it because it’s not part of my experience, having lived in big cities (New York, Boston, Seattle) all my adult life, where I did not hear it. I agree with you, Laura and Alex, that “folks” is not suitable for formal communication despite its being gender neutral. Thank you, everyone, for commenting on these ideas. What is your experience with guy and guys at work? If you want to eliminate guys in situations where it may not belong, you might try a sign on the bulletin board above your desk with the reminder 'You guys.' You can also add a reminder to your smart phone or tablet.ĭoes it make sense to avoid using guy and guys in business communication? Yes, it makes sense if the use may offend or leave out someone.īut what about the situation captured in the photo above, with Lynn Sherk and me at Firehouse Coffee in our neighborhood? If the servers had called us 'you guys,' would we have minded? No, not a bit.

Speech may be more challenging since we don't have a grammar checker to flag words before they come out of our mouths, and the informal 'you guys' may be a longstanding habit.

Taking that step should be easy, especially since grammar and spelling checkers flag the use of guys and guy. For this blog post, my Microsoft grammar and spelling checker set on Grammar &Style (not Grammar Only) recommended people and person for every guys and guy I used. Also, we cannot know whether guys and guy may exclude or offend a reader. For example, a woman in a group of mostly male software engineers or firefighters may feel like a misfit when messages use 'you guys.' ' Cutting those words from our writing makes sense because other words are more precise. And we should not use guy when we mean 'someone.

Yes, I recommend that we cut guys from our written messages when we mean a mixed group or a group of women.

How are you guys doing