The Origin and the Use of the Word “guy” in the Modern Context.
In the 21st century, with modernisation of language, everyone has come across the word “guys” at least once in their day-to-day lives. Have you ever used it yourself to refer to your group of friends irrespective of their gender? Have you ever used it to address your female friends or acquaintances? If the answer to these questions are yes, then you will be surprised to know the etymology of the word “guy” just as I was! Did you know it originated from a person named Guy Fawkes, in the 17th century? Though its initial meaning was “a boy” or “a fellow man” and had been used as slang to refer to a male since the late 19th century, it is now a word used in our day-to-day vocabulary, transcending any gender boundary.
The origin story of this word is quite riveting, and it follows the historical movement of the Gunpowder Plot, which was devised to assassinate King James I of England at the Opening of Parliament in November 1605. It was a religious coalition conspired by the Catholic Church to terminate the life and reign of the Protestant King James I during the aforementioned event. The leader of this mission was Robert Catesby who had been brewing this plan since 1604 and had rented the cellar directly below the House of Lords. The explosives expert, Guy Fawkes was intended to light it on fire. However, one of the lords was tipped beforehand which led to the discovery of the cellar and Guy Fawkes was caught red-handed on the 5th of November, with 36 barrels of gun powder found later. An Act of Parliament was passed to celebrate the 5th of November as Bonfire Night every year, thereafter, to celebrate the failure of the failed conspirators. As the puppets of Fawkes were burned every year, along with those of the Pope, Fawkes was scorned and was started to be referred to as “guys”. Later, it was taken up to use as a derogatory word for nefarious men. Soon after, this word had started to appear in the columns and poems of authors and poets, and it seemed to have gradually lost its negative connotations.
Meanwhile, “you” being the word having the same plural form as its singular one, a new word was being desperately searched to replace “you people”, “you all” or “yous”. It did not take time for “guys” to be adopted and given the same status as “you all”. Naturally and eventually, “guys” began to be synonymous with the second person plural in English.
However, with the changing world and language evolving with time, the word “guys” has now adopted a new and more inclusive meaning. Yes, it is now considered to be a gender-neutral term! Now, when a person uses the term to address someone, it can refer to both men and women. It is now common slang among young adults to address their group of friends or people with whom they are acquainted. It, however, can be noted that the semantics attached to the word is such that it is only used to refer to people with whom the speaker is familiar, or is at least acquainted. It is interesting to know that there exists no singular form of the word “guy” with similar semantics. A “guy” can simply refer to a man or a boy but when it is used as a term to address someone, it does not have a singular form. Instead, its singular form can be synonymous with “dude”, “bro” or “pal”, which are some of the similar slang used in modern day-to-day lives. It is also redundant here that “guys” is not a word to be used in a formal setting or with elders.
