Calling adult sisters 'the girls'

Does it MATTER. It's not said in a horrible way, - why worry yourself about things like this.

For goodness sake i think if people are worrying about this then they dont have enough real problems

I don't know about you but I can think about what to have for tea and the issues relating to the pandemic within the same hour. It's possible to think about a tange of things minor and major.

Most children aren’t upset by being referred to as “the kids” or “the girls” or “the twins” etc, but if so, they should suggest a suitable alternative to family members.

What I Really Hate is the modern usage of “fur-babies” instead of dogs! Especially when dogs are dressed up, pushed in pushchairs and allowed into shops and cafes as if they were real children/people. I was shocked yesterday to see a dog in our local (main) church for an exhibition.

Just because so many people have dogs now, especially since the pandemic, it doesn’t mean we have to humanise them. They are still animals with animal behaviour, no matter how well-behaved they may appear to be, and should be treated as such and not as human beings.

I love being called the girls it makes me feel young

Be grateful they aren't 'the old girls'. (Actually, they probably are, out of their hearing.)

If they don't like it they should just ask not to be called that.
It is, however, a very common thing to say and I think most people would not be bothered by it. Myself included.

I remember my mum referring to her friends as the girls. That to me was very strange being the youngster I was ?! My DD and DS always refer to their daughters as the girls even though they’re now adults and I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. I refer to my friends as the girls as well. Can’t believe anyone could be upset by it personally. There are far worse things to worry about!!

Galaxy

I don't know about you but I can think about what to have for tea and the issues relating to the pandemic within the same hour. It's possible to think about a tange of things minor and major.

I agree. There are things that mildly irritate people, things that annoy them, and things that worry them a great deal. The fact that they become mildly irritated about one thing doesn't mean they aren't seriously worried about something else

So if the original question is directed at me yes, I have huge worries and sadness in my life at the moment. Which is probably why I welcome some idle debate about non serious but slightly annoying stuff.

I always refer to my 3 daughters as ‘the girls’ and obviously, individually, by their name. One DD has 2 sons and 2 stepsons known as the ‘little boys’ and the ‘big boys’. No one minds and I’m sure they’d all let it be known if they did! I’m in a group of 5 friends referred to as the ‘girls’. I don’t mind.

But men are often referred to as 'the boys'.

DH and I continue to refer to our daughters, both in their 50s, as the girls (as in "we must tell the girls about.."). It's the most natural way for us to speak about them between ourselves. And it's neater and shorter than "we must tell Gertrude and Lavinia about.."). We don't refer to them as "the girls" when speaking to other people - we say "our daughters".

My mother referred to my sister andme as a girl all her life and I was 55 when she died, and my sister 40.!

I disliked it, because it wasn't just something she said. Her attitude clearlyl showed that our opinions on practically anything were less well-informed than hers.

This to me is the point - if you feel you are still being treated as a school-girl years after you are grown up then it rankles, irrespective of whether it is connected to being called a girl or not.

An irritation for me is:-
When someone says, “Hi guys or are you guys coming?” Please stop calling girls/females/women/ladies, the name ‘guys’. I’m not a guy.

Trisha 123 - I’m with you. Good Lord surely there are better things to worry about. Again not said to upset anyone. I call my children ‘the girls’ they are adults and don’t think anything of it . It’s just a term of endearment if anything. Generally people seem to get het up over such small things these days ?

Yet there are plenty of people on this thread getting het up about other people reactions to the word, surely they have better things to worry about too.

It's a real term of endearment coming from parents , and usually an downright insult from anyone else in my opinion.my dad used it all time with me and sis.mum used our names!

Ha ha! Get over yourself. It. General term in case of possible mixed company , it covers all bases.dont be so stuffy!

katy1950

I love being called the girls it makes me feel young

Absolutely!me and DH refer to each other as "babe" and " Hun" or any other daft term currently used by generation tik tok!!! We think it's hilarious the daft things they think of , and it makes us have a bit of a giggle, strictly behind closed doors of course, I slipped up and yelled "babe" once in Morrisons, red face ensued.......

I have a group of girlfriends, we meet for lunch every 6 weeks or so, we’ve known each other 25yrs and we always refer to Girlies Lunch in our diaries…….

I might start using the local terms - quines and loons.

I think too many people think up ways to be aggrieved.

There are times and places where things are acceptable and there are others when they are not. I have no objections to being one of the girls at home - mum has 4 of us. However, I am a senior manager fast approaching 60, last week I took exception in a meeting when one of my male peers said "Xxxx (young male recent entrant) and the girls have worked really hard on this". It belittled us and our contribution, without which the whole project would have crashed and burned, as the person concerned had over egged their CV and was out of their depth. We can be referred to as a group, or individually - to speak of us in this way sent out a clear, and clearly wrong, message. I started my career speaking out about this type of thing, it is a great disappointment that I am still having to do it at the end. The only difference is I have worked my way up a bit so I am "shouting" across rather than upwards.

Girls and boys are words that have taken on a different meaning - they no longer refer only to the younger versions of men and women but are much more thought of as female and male - girls’ and boys’ nights out are phrases used to differentiate between the sexes and not to make a comment on age so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to anybody to be referred to as a girl or a boy - but of course if that offends them then they should say.

A bunch of us, all schoolmates once upon a long time ago, speak of one another as girls. Some of us are married, some are single, and a couple are nuns... What's in a name? That which you put in it.