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Jeroen Roovers posted on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:08:24 +0100 as excerpted: |
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> On Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:26:16 +0100 Christian Ruppert <idl0r@g.o> |
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> wrote: |
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> |
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>> Hey guys, |
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> |
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> Only half of people? :) |
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That's just /begging/ a reply. (In reference to "begging the question" and |
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the controversy surrounding it. Linguists and perscriptivists vs. |
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descriptivists, etc. An entirely different topic but look up language log |
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for some /hours/ of interesting reading, if you're ever bored. =:^) |
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On wictionary, "guys" has three definitions: |
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http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guys |
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1. plural form of guy |
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2. (colloquial) Persons, irrespective of their genders. |
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3. (colloquial) A form of address for a group of male persons or a group |
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of mixed male and female persons. |
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All three of those are potentially gender neutral. There's two sets of |
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synonyms listed, the first gender neutral (people, persons, folks), the |
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second "male persons" (blokes, chaps, dudes, fellows, gents). |
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Following thru on the first def, guy (and disregarding the other meaning, |
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noun/verb related to an anchor or support cable), we find that the |
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original reference was to Guy Fawkes, an Englishman hanged in 1606 for his |
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role in the Gunpowder Plot. |
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Here, we have five definitions: |
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1. (UK) (In direct reference to the origin.) An effigy of a man burned... |
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2. A male. |
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3. (colloquial, in plural) people. |
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4. (colloquial, of animals and sometimes objects) thing, creature. |
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5. (colloquial, technology) thing, unit. |
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This usage is not always seen as accurate or correct. |
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(The example quotes are interesting but omitted for brevity.) |
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Of particular interest here is the usage note, mentioning "Hey guys" in |
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particular: |
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In plural, guys is not completely gender-neutral but it may refer to |
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people of either sex in some circumstances and forms; "Hey guys" can |
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generally refer to either gender, as a greeting in its plural form. |
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[R]eferring to a group of people as "guys" usually means a group of men or |
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a mixed group[.] |
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So while it /could/ refer to only half of people (males), alternatively |
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and in the wider sense, it /could/ refer to a /superset/ of all people |
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instead, including not only animals but even things! (Usage: "This guy |
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here, measures the voltage.) |
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Just in case someone has a problem with wictionary, Merriam-webster.com |
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has similar definitions, including specifically the person usage, and |
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individual/creature usage. |
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http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/guy[3] |
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-- |
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Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
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"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- |
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and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman |
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