Daily Post #516 Things to stop saying, part II “Ok guys”

From time to time I write about expressions and filler words that have found their way into our language and that I find annoying.

I have previously written about the filler word “Basically” which seems to be the dominant staple food filler word for entrepreneurs, see post #68 from 2021 for that one, and today I need to address the use of “guys”.

Like in “Hey guys, let’s …” or “ok, guys…”

This one came up again when we were talking about startup culture and trying to create an inclusive environment, and of course what we say and how we say things are a big important part of that.

I know most of you use “guys” instead of saying “people” and very few of you say “guys and girls”, but I want to make the case for us all to stop using the word “guys” as the only descriptor of people in the room.

We talk a lot about unconscious bias and the importance of social signals, and personally I think that we often get sloppy with the use of words in our language.

And yes, I feel using “guys” as a descriptor of people is simply wrong, it cements a male perspective of address and belittles the females in the audience.

So, simply put, stop using “guys” as a description of people.