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Curmudgeon Corner

Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
The problem with that is that you’d now have to say ‘guys and gals’, which carries disturbing overtones of Savile.
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I think I get it, but it's still a bit of a Jimmy riddle (a.k.a a piece of piss).

Joe Hutch said:
Anyway, the correct term is, of course, 'chaps'.
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Indubitably, as it always has been. 'Chapesses' never really caught on, though. However, 'ladies' and 'gentlemen' is good enough to describe public loos so should stand.

On my travels, I once got chatting to a 'caretaker' in a big loo in Wales who'd been there for decades and loved his job. When I asked why, particularly, he replied that it enabled him to have his holidays at his own convenience.
 
I think the trend is towards 'unisex' words; eg 'actor' rather than 'actor/actress' and 'comedian' rather than 'comedian/comedienne'. When I was still at work, where the workforce was 90% female, everyone was addressed as 'guys' or 'chaps'. The women used to sometimes refer to themselves collectively as 'girls', though many of them would never see 30 again.
 
Just as we now have 3 acceptable pronouns: he, she, they

perhaps we should have 3 acceptable versions of ‘guys’?

we have: guys, gals. Gays is (to some extent) already taken (though not in regular use), which leaves ‘guls’.
 
It's funny how some people get upset about how they're addressed. Mrs H hates being called a 'girl', a term she thinks should be reserved for females under the age of 16. My father got irate when he received a letter addressing him as 'Esq.' I'm not entirely sure what upset him about the term. (It was many years ago, and he's dead, so I can't ask him). Personally, I'm OK with bloke, chap, old man, young man, fellow, old fellow, guy, esquire, squire, mate. I'd probably not be happy being called 'grandad', but that's not happened so far.
 
Mike Reed said:
On my travels, I once got chatting to a 'caretaker' in a big loo in Wales who'd been there for decades and loved his job. When I asked why, particularly, he replied that it enabled him to have his holidays at his own convenience.
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Wales should stay well away from bigloos if they’ve got any sense.
 
Mike Reed said:
On my travels, I once got chatting to a 'caretaker' in a big loo in Wales who'd been there for decades and loved his job. When I asked why, particularly, he replied that it enabled him to have his holidays at his own convenience.
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As part of busman’s holiday?
 
Mike Reed said:
Thought that referred to one's appendage. Pricks my memory somehow, anyway.
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Graham Chapman in the section of “The Meaning of Life” film where he and his frustrated wife (Eric Idle) discuss the glorious Protestant freedom to place a condom on his old fella/John Thomas.
 
My late brother in law always found women vaguely incomprehensible. Whenever he was particularly perplexed by some or another perceived feminine guile he would peer sideways at me and say "Strange chaps, women."
 
...and unattributed sources in political columns. These from Special K’s spoutings today on the BBC website, in the space of five sentences. Names or it didn’t happen, Laura.

A No 10 insider told me Mr Cummings "jumped because otherwise he would be pushed soon...

One member of the Cabinet even told me Mr Cummings' exit was a "blessing"...

One adviser told me it was a "huge error to let him go"...
 
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