You've taken the stance that people who do not use inclusive language are not genuinely caring and empathetic. People I know who are minorities in tech seem to not care very much. Most have more pressing issues like handling the practical implications of mat-leave or pushing for equitable resume reviews. The people I know who care the most about this are also universally not minorities.

It's bizarre to me that strong sapir-wharf seems to be the dominant thought in 2022.

I've found there is a world of difference between virtue signalers and people who actually want to help with real problems. The virtue signalers only care when they can look good or bludgeon others over the head. Actual help is tiring.

Aren't you an owner and not an employee? Co-Workers in this context are employees that could sue.

You probably generally care but if you didn't it would be foolish and perhaps costly to not play the game. Your situation re-enforces the need to.

Only if you buy into “microaggression” philosophy.

How would you feel about a suggestion to use y’all instead of you guys? folx instead of folks?

In several English-speaking countries "guys" is not at all gendered (used universally by people of any gender to refer to groups of people of any gender), while "y'all" and "folks" are basically just not in the language at all and would just get you confused looks. I have no idea what "folx" means as this is the first time I've ever seen it.

"You guys" is just the most common form of the 2nd-person plural in American English. "Y'all" is strongly dialectal, and it sounds forced when someone who doesn't actually speak the dialect says it.

People who speak with the thickest appalachin and thickest black english dialects (two pick two ends of the spectrum) can barely communicate with each other and "y'all" sounds perfectly natural from either of them.

It's a class thing. Which is why it sounds forced when a CEO who doesn't have a preexisting american accent of some sort says it.

> Y'all

As a Texan it sounds jarring and wrong when said by a non-Southerner. A bit like a lily white person suddenly dropping into AAVE. It's just cringe-inducing and I would like people who do it as an affectation (rather than something they grew up saying) to not do it.

I feel it's retarded.

A quick search of my emails suggests that while I commonly use "everyone" and "y'all", I haven't used "you guys" in a business communication in...years

I don't think "folx" is going to be one of the recommendations, it isn't synonymous with folks anyway, so the replacement would be rarely make sense unless you were explicitly talking about particular queer or marginalized communities.

Extremely negatively

Hey, that's uncalled for. Please refrain from making personal insults.

> I think maybe you simply just don't understand that some people are genuinely caring and empathetic.

OK, so you're both wrong.