“You guys”, not “guys”. If you still think that can only refer to men, that’s certainly the first time I’ve heard an American say that. Indeed, I hear this phrase from women as much as I do from men, to address audiences of any gender makeup. And I’m in the southern US.

Where I come from, the correct term would be "y'all" or "all y'all" which I have also seen arguments online about the correct usage and meaning.

I used to routinely use y'all online in a forum where I was intentionally emphasizing my Southern identity to more clearly distinguish between singular "you" and plural "you."

I've had a class in linguistics. I grew up in a bilingual home. I'm not uninformed about the fact that local colloquialisms exist, language is alive and evolving.

I think of "guys" and "you guys" as both masculine. I don't generally hassle people about such things.

Evidence that I don't generally hassle people about such things:

https://witnesstodestruction.blogspot.com/p/it-seems-my-sile...

I’m not making any claims about whether you generally hassle anyone so I don’t need any evidence about that in either direction. Either way, you are the first person I’ve talked to who doesn’t think “you guys” can refer to an audience of multiple genders. That certainly contradicts the overwhelming majority of usages of the phrase I’ve seen in my life.

I'm aware there are people that use it that way. I've seen this discussion on the internet before.

I am unlikely to do so, in part because of negative experiences from a very toxic forum where I was treated like absolute shit.

Please note that I'm backing up someone else's claim about this being a phenomenon. I'm telling you they aren't making that up. There are Americans who view that as a masculine term. I'm actual living proof this is not a bullshit claim.

Sorry you are having such a big problem accepting that.

It’s not that there are some people who use it “that way.” It’s the standard usage: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/you_guys

No need to make this personal with your last sentence.

I don't think that's "making this personal." It's not intended as some kind of personal attack.

Someone other than me noted that this is a phenomenon in some parts of the US. I posted to support that assertion. You have made multiple comments telling me I'm wrong about this when my claim is "I, personally, fit the profile" and you keep citing general usage.

I may be "wrong" by some metric or other to see it as masculine, but I'm living proof some Americans do, in fact, view it that way. You do appear to be having some trouble accepting that assertion, given that you basically are trying to tell me I'm wrong about my testimony about my opinion about the phrase, which really is quite baffling to me that anyone would try to tell me that.

I don’t believe I ever used the term “wrong.” I said you’re the only American I’ve encountered, offline or online, to maintain that “you guys” can only refer to groups of men. That’s all I’ve said, and that’s probably the end of this conversation.

The women I work with use this phrase probably more than anyone else I work with, so there’s not much practical for me to take away from this exchange.

None of this was intended to be "practical" in your life out in meat space.

I only mentioned my gender due to the larger context of the discussion. The implication is there are women who, like me, view "guys/you guys" as masculine and (unlike me) would make a big deal out of it. This seems pertinent to the piece being discussed and wasn't intended to suggest anything about women generally, much less women you personally know in meat space.

For what it’s worth, the topic has never been whether “you guys” is “masculine” but whether it can refer to groups of mixed or not-all-male gender. I do find it odd you have consistently avoided ever making a statement about the gender makeup of groups to which the phrase can refer. I believe it is possible for the phrase to be masculine in a sense and for it to still refer to mixed- or arbitrary-gender groups.

Can you confirm without ambiguity whether you are indeed talking about the same topic as me?