I’ve heard people saying phrases like down below.
"That’s not cool, man"
"Dude, look at this"
"Hey, calm down, bro"
But these words are supposed to be said to a male person. (I could be wrong since I’m not an native English speaker) So what word do you use instead to say those phrases to a female person?
Answer
All three of these, man, dude, and bro, in about equal measure, are very informal, assume some familiarity, but are not rude or offensive. But their genderedness is different.
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‘man’ is a bit of an interjection, and as such is mostly ungendered.
Man, that’s a big shark.
or
Look, man, we’re gonna need a bigger boat.
The speaker is not addressing to a male, it’s just a pointed way of drawing attention to the statement. So you can use ‘man’ as an interjection without taking into account gender of those around you (in these informal contexts).
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‘dude’ is nominally gendered and is usually used as a vocative for men, but can sometimes be used as such for women, though it is not an exact science.
Dude, where’s my car?
‘Dude’ can be used for both genders, but still has a lot of maleness to it; it would seem a little strange if you were directing that at a woman. But it seems to be used more often these days with both genders.
For women alternatives to dude, it is unclear.. There are nominal versions ‘babe’, ‘chick’, ‘girl’, ‘hon’ (for ‘honey’), but these all (each in their own peculiar way) may be considered condescending (even if the intention is not). Don’t use ‘dudette’; that just sounds weird.
So, you can probably use ‘dude’ for both genders, but it is a little questionable. I’d suggest you avoid it and just say ‘hey’ (but only at the beginning of a sentence, not at the end; really, nothing is simple in language).
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‘bro’ is entirely a vocative intended for males. If you heard someone say this to an unknown person, you would be very surprised if they turned out to be female.
Pass me some surf wax, bro.
Don’t use ‘bro’ for women.
For the latter two it is not clear exactly what the most appropriate alternatives for women are that match the same level of informality as ‘dude’ or ‘bro’. There are words for groups of women: ‘ladies’, ‘gals’, ‘girls’, but they all have an old-fashioned connotation to them and condescending or paternalistic, especially if coming from a man.
Summary:
- no need to change ‘man’
- for the others, ‘dude’, ‘bro’, ‘pal’, at the beginning of sentence use ‘hey’. At the end, nothing.
Note: this is entirely for the informal General American English, unless otherwise noted. In some varieties, it is not uncommon to use nongendered vocatives that are terms of endearment with strangers, male or female: honey, sweetie, in Southern American English, ‘love’ in informal General British English.
Note 2: The sociolinguistics around these are complicated. Each term has its own nuances worth a lot more explanation (and research). This is a gross oversimplification.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Towa Shina , Answer Author : Mitch
