Translation: Go for the least common denominator. Try to be as bland as possible in your writing.
> avoid calling any of the women "chick" because you'll cause grave offence
If that's what you consider "grave," there's a whole internet full of words that will make you pass out.
Translation: Be a professional.
I spent 5 seconds googling.
Where I come from (central US), "chick" is similar to "dork" in that it can, but doesn't necessarily, have derogatory connotations. It depends a lot on context. It's perfectly acceptable (though slightly cheeky) to call oneself a dork in public, but you typically wouldn't call someone else a dork unless you were already on very familiar terms with that person. And you would only do it in familiar circumstances. Doing it with someone you don't know very well, or doing it in public, would be considered offensive. Doubly so if you don't know them and it's in public.
Chick operates the same way, only it's got even more cultural baggage because it features in a lot of memes that are associated with sexism (e.g., the phrase "cruising for chicks").
So I wouldn't even dream of presuming that it's OK for me to call someone else a chick in public, even if I knew them to be a founding member of Chicks who Code.
I realize that the original poster was probably just trying to be cute. But, as John Scalzi famously observed, "The failure mode of 'clever' is 'asshole'."
I think context and age matters a lot here (as well as personal preference) - young women and (especially) girls may use the term amongst themselves but middle age women almost certainly wouldn't, if you called your boss "chick," it would be seen as inappropriate, belittling and disrespectful. It's in the same category (but not "severity") as other diminutives like sweetie, honey, babe, girl, girly, and doll.
It may vary by region too, I know at least certain diminutives don't have the same connotations in the American South as they do elsewhere.
In general, you should probably avoid calling an adult woman you are personally unfamiliar with "chick" in many contexts, not necessarily because "PC police," but because it's just bad for communication - its not necessary and it can be a distraction from the actual message you're conveying.
Personally, as a woman approaching 40, I can't think of any context I'd care to be called "chick" in. Not necessarily offended but it would be just icky.
EDIT:
Some discussion:
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/19098/how-deroga...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/30/bird-i...
I suppose the interesting question to ask is does HN think of itself as more of a professional/formal discussion community than one that leans towards casual/familiar?
(I'd assume that the answer is that it probably varies with comment writer and both sides of the argument are represented here and have fair points.)
I don't speak for everyone, I'm merely speaking in observation: the former is the status quo, the latter I have seen completely derail threads (we're in one one of those box cars right now) and in my own opinion, which is mine and no one else's, not out of maliciousness (or at least, rarely so), but because of the clash when subscribers of the first group run into subscribers of the second group...
and neither one wants to give the other an inch.
Seems like a luxury.
Ah, the only people it's ENCOURAGED to be prejudiced against while preaching tolerance. How novel!
You have no idea what I identify as, your comments just now in assuming my identify and race are far more offensive than calling out a completely positive mention of some chick, right? I'm offended now you need to change your mind. Those are the rules as I understand them. Oh but wait, you're literally saying you are of the "privileged class" so you can do as you please... ?
I like it, the full hypocritical double-down with a side of twitter "activism" where people shut their mouth not because of fear but because it directly benefited their careers and waiting to call it out did so as well.
Yes, I agree that you need to be concerned with other people's issues, like non-gun owners should understand an attack of civil rights at the plea of emotions is not in their best interest either. However... if your bar is set to "someone said the word chick!" well, congrats on solving all serious problems already.
I'm a black male, I happen to be somewhat in agreement with the commenter you're replying to here-because I happen to have felt that very sensation he describes in conversations very much like this one; that of people being offended on my behalf.
Why are you weaponizing race like this?
Very roughly in English workplaces you should avoid calling any of the women "chick" because you'll cause grave offence.
There are very narrow exceptions to this. In places like Stoke on Trent you might find people calling each other "my duck" (but this isn't just women; men call each other "me duck" too.) But even there you need to know the person and know it's ok.
In this particular example: I'm uncomfortable with the use of "chick" and it makes me think less of the writer, even after the explanation that it was an alternate to "dude". People can use whatever language they like, but they should be aware of the effect of the language they chose on other people so they make an informed choice.