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so which equivalent for 'guys' do you prefer? gals? dolls?? I'm sorry, but this reaction always amuses me because the alternatives are so few. I've found that most of my colleagues at work, when presented with a choice, opt for 'guys' over 'chicks'. 
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>>so which equivalent for 'guys' do you prefer? gals? dolls?? I'm sorry, but this reaction always amuses me because the alternatives are so few. I've found that most of my colleagues at work, when presented with a choice, opt for 'guys' over 'chicks'.<<  Ok, Tsuwm, you asked for it!! Down here, thank you very much, you-all covers it nicely! But, since you-all don't say that up there, I DO happen to have some alternatives, as a matter of fact, ALL of which are VASTLY preferable to calling females "guys"!!! OH!!!! How are you ladies doing today? Would you fine ladies like some lunch? If they all had some similarity, say they're all in the secretarial pool, you can even say "types", as in, Would you wonderful secretarial types give me some ideas? People and folks work well, too: People, let's adjourn. I've enjoyed meeting with you fine people. It's good to see you folks again. You fun folks really liven up the place. Even "female types" can work, if it's in the proper context. Do you female types think adding a restroom would help? Even, facetiously probably, "you persons of the opposite sex" would be better than "guys"! OOH! THIS even makes me want to recommend that you use the term "you superior females"!!
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 okay, just three(3) quick points: 1. "guys" can be found in both M-WCD and AHD in the sense of "persons", although it is listed as "informal" -- what does this mean? it means that usage is widespread and has been for some years. 2. "ladies" is the counterpart for "gentlemen"; this only works well for formal occasions. 3. "you people" sounds too much like a drill sargeant in a good mood. 4. your other suggestions sound very forced, when what we're wanting is very informal. oops, that was four(4) things. so tsu-me. 
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Response to point 1: I know this. Points 2, 3, and 4: The intent of any words can be indicated by the speaker's non-verbal communication. I have said every one of these with such things as a smile and a conspiratorial twinkle in my eye, and have yet to be rebuffed or misunderstood. I agree that if any speaker is not comfortable with the language he or she is using, it is quite likely to sound stiff and forced. FYI--I am not about the fact that your office staff, or anyone, uses the term guys when talking to females. I am angry because you are amused at the situation. I can even, in a way, see why you are amused, but I don't have to like it! No hard feelings here. I still love (usually!) reading your posts.
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>>so which equivalent for 'guys' do you prefer? gals? dolls?? I'm sorry, but this reaction always amuses me because the alternatives are so few. I've found that most of my colleagues at work, when presented with a choice, opt for 'guys' over 'chicks'<< Back to my original point - why is an alternative for 'guys' necessary? What is wrong with plain old 'you'? Works for the British, the Aussies, the Kiwis and as far as I know every English-as-a-foreign-language textbook. As for 'guys' over 'chicks', I thikn you were stacking the odds by offering your colleagues only these two choices. Have you tried them on Jackie's suggestions to see what they think, or did you dislike those too much to ask? Personally, I'd rather have 'people' or 'folks' if I have to have anything at all.
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Pooh-Bah
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The problem with the words you mention is:
dolls - this refers to plastic things with straw blonde hair and unfeasibly small waists - some of us don't want to be Barbie (I know it wasn't what Damon Runyon intended).
chicks - may have been fine in its day but far too fluffy - sounds like a word for arm fluff, which is what a chick was.
We've had a re-surgence of "girls" here, it seems to have been re-claimed to a certain extent and we have "girls' nights out" and "boys' nights out" without feeling we are all twelve.
I always notice in America that people use names so much more - we would rarely say in conversation "Well Walt, what do you think about the latest figures". We'd more likely say "What do you think about the latest figures". Sometimes I wish we used names more as I am so bad at them and it takes me ages to learn people's names.
That might be why we are quite happy to use impersonal words like "you" and "anyone". I'd be more likely to say "does anyone want to come for a drink?" which unintentionally avoids the need to differentiate between the sexes.
So in the end it's a bit of a non-issue for me. I'd prefer not to be called anything, except perhaps my name.
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>>> >>in Australia the term "youse" is used as the 2nd person plural pronoun<<
It is used that way plus the singular, if I listened to the
people on TV right, in parts of the northeastern U.S., too.
Maybe Brooklyn, or Chicago--one of them thar places! This may be a stereotype I picked up from
TV, but I think it was
used by mafiosos.
>>the long-lamented 'ye'<< is alive and kicking in Ireland. At least the west.
Apologies people - I've come back to this forum as it is well and truly ending.
I hate to be one to break the news but 'youse' is most definitely an Irish term. Australia, Chicago and Brooklyn all contain Irish communities and 'youse' is commonly heard on Irish streets as an alternative for the plural 'you'. Not many Italian (Sicilian) mafioso types on this sceptered isle!
Bridget is spot on. 'Ye' is used as the singular 'you' in the west of Ireland and in Dublin by migrants from those parts. I went to school on the west coast for two years and it took me aback when I heard it for the first time in conversation. I really thought they were joking. It was like listening to a Dicken's novel. I never use (sic) it myself but I have been known to say 'youse' in my youth. Here aswell it is frowned upon as uneducated and common but very much part of the dialect.
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enthusiast
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jmh suggests the use "anyone" and i'd like to add "everyone" as in "what's everyone doing tonight?"
this comes back in a way to emanuela's italian point about "lei" the "she" for the formal "you". "voi", the plural "you" was also acceptable until some time in the past, i believe, but was changed after the second world war. (please correct me if i'm wrong, emanuela!) "lei" is a superbly indirect way of addressing the speaker and seems to have some parallels in highly formal english as in "your honour" or "what would her majesty like for tea?" which assumes a third person present since addressing the individual directly would be brash.
in this way "would anyone like to go out for a beer?" is an indirect way of addressing the people present through an anonymous group which is understood by everyone present to be the actual group. am i reading too much into it?
one other point. thou seems to me to be used today only with a deliberately clumsy attempt to match an old fashioned verb to it, usually in creating an 11th commandment: "thou shalt not take mine beer from the fridge unless thoust payest first". not a bad commandment when you think about it...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Indonesian can also refer to the person being addressed indirectly. One way is just to use the person's name or name and title: "(Pak) Candi ke mana besok?" = "Where are you going tomorrow?" (literally " (Mr.) Candi to where tomorrow"). Or you can use some sort of relationship term "Kami telah menerima surat Ibu" = "We have received your letter" (literally "We have received mother's letter" (where the woman in question is not the writer's or the recipient's mother)). There are other ways but these are the most common.
Bingley
Bingley
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stranger
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I recall my new wife's having problems of when to use "vous" and "tu" while learning French in francophone Burkina Faso. The French teacher told her not to worry about learning the "tu" form. "It is better," she said,"to call the dog 'vous' than the President 'tu.'" She still struggles with the difference but has learned the "tu" form better with my French children and grandchildren.
Excellency will do.
Excellency will do.
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