Hey you… guys?
When I was a child growing up in the 70s & 80s, television and children’s programming wasn’t what it is today. In fact, until I was a teenager, our black and white TV had both the UHF and VHF knobs for changing the channel and two long rabbit ear antennae used to sharpen the picture. My sisters and I relied mostly on PBS after school and Saturday morning for our kids’ TV fix. PBS had a great selection of fun shows that I remember enjoying; Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Picture Page, 3..2..1 Contact, The Electric Company, to name a few. The Electric Company was a fantastic, edgy, sometimes sarcastic show that would help kids understand nuances of the English language and social situations through small scene skits. It was a show aimed at a slightly older crowd than those watching Sesame Street. The intro was a kid, almost yelling to his friends to gather, HEY YOU GUYS!!!!
A lot has changed since that show. TV and children’s programming are completely different. The televisions are smart, AI equipped, and the programming options are on demand and truly feel unlimited – but we’re still using the word “guys” when referencing a group people, friends, and colleagues, regardless of the gender mix of the group. The word “guy” truly does mean a man, even if the plural of guy is gender neutral. I decided I could vary it up a bit, I pride myself on being verbose. The English language has dozens of synonyms that could be used when referencing a group of people. Why is guys the only one in rotation? So, the first step was to start paying attention to how often I would reach for that word; “Hi, guys! ““Thank you, guys, so much.”, “I couldn’t have done it without you guys.” etc. And just like when you buy a new car you start seeing that same brand and color car everywhere, as soon as I started paying attention to how often I said the word guys, I started noticing it everywhere. I was noticing the word used across my teams, across roles, and across the organization.
What do y’all think? (see what I did there? 😉) If you have a meeting with me and you notice a synonym being used, or if I couldn’t break the habit, please know that I’m working on it. What are the things that you notice?
Thanks for this thoughtful post. I really don’t mind “you guys”. Maybe that’s because I use it sometimes too (caught myself twice this morning already!).
Thanks Sandie, sorry to cause you to focus on such a simple word. I don’t “mind” it either, I just think it’s a bit overused.
I don’t mind the generic use of “guys” either. I notice the use of “dude” more when on women or a mixed group, but admittedly it makes me smile. Doesn’t bother me!
Thank you for the walk down PBS memory lane. And remembering the old TVs. I brought my B&W rotary dial TV with UHF/VHF – rabbit ears and all – to BU in the 80s. Amazing what college students have today. Technology has exploded. My parents thought the TV would be distracting. Imagine if I had, oh I don’t know, the internet! 🙂
How could you forget Zoom (1972)? “Write Zoom, Z-double-O-M, Box 3-5-0, Boston, Mass 0-2-1-3-4”. Hmm, maybe that was too early in the 70’s for you. “That’s all folks”. (Loony Tunes)
Hi Meagan, Thank you for this post. I am trying to get out of this habit myself because it does bother some people. Taking the time to learn everyone’s pronouns and then saying “you guys” seems kind of silly. Sometimes I just say “you” and then look around meaningfully at everyone (lol – like I said, I am trying!) Also, we definitely grew up in the same era of TV!!