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Is “guy” gender-neutral?

I'm in the Northeast USA.

I'm about to email 3 people, 2 are women

It is ok to say "I thought you guys would find this interesting" ?

Does the sexual orientation (straight vs gay) make any difference ? (to be clear, I'm not suggesting it does, I am just adding that (true) factor in in case it affects any answer).

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I grew up in the Northeast and I use 'you guys' routinely when speaking to a group of people even if there are no men in it at all.

But if you feel that some people in the group will be offended for any reason, you can instead say,

I thought you all would find this interesting...

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  • As much as I would not hesitate to use 'you guys' in a lot of situations, it is worth noting that this is a familiar or informal form of address. So I wouldn't use it in a formal setting. 'You all' is a great suggestion if there is any doubt.
    – Liz
    Commented May 11, 2012 at 22:41
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I've heard girls address other girls as "you guys", so I don't think there's anything wrong. And the question of sexual orientation over here seems totally irrelevant.

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While in the Boston area I've routinely heard the personnel of a language school address the students as "guys", paying no attention to whether they were boys or girls.

Funnily enough, this kind of address was the regular one even in language schools in Britain (I clearly remember it being used in Bournemouth and Edinburgh), so I guess it is widely accepted at least when young people are concerned.

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'You guys' is now used in England as a friendly greeting, so I am sure it is acceptable in America, with no taboos regarding gender. It is simply removing any sense of inequality of the sexes and perfectly acceptable.

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