I’ve been back and forth with this just because of my habit to use “oh man”, or “oh dude” in the past. I’ve done pretty well with changing the terminology just to keep to the discussion at hand and being respectful for anyone I’m talking to (just feels like basic public respect, like back in the day they would say “Dear Reader,” not really a PC problem to me).

So anyways, I found myself typing “oh boy” the other day and I paused to wonder about it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it brought up in discussions like man or dude. I never even thought of that phrase as it signifying the recipient is a “boy”. The more I think on it I don’t even know what the actual meaning is besides the way in which it is used (like, “shit” or “you wouldn’t believe”).

tldr: Is “oh boy” an acceptable gender-neutral response loop hole so I can be lazier when typing or has this been discussed a lot and I’ve just missed out on it?

I would love to hear the perspectives of everyone and encourage you to voice your opinion (just message if you don’t want other’s chiming in if you prefer)

  • tyrant@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    IMO, “oh boy” would have a definition of “wowza!” Whereas “oh girl” would have a definition of “sassy!”. In this vain, I declare “oh boy” to be gender neutral.

    Same goes for “awww, maaaan”

  • lordnikon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Can we all just agree that Dude is a gender agnostic term and doesn’t just refer to men. It’s what Bill and Ted would have wanted.

  • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Who would be misgendered by saying it? You aren’t referring to the person you are speaking to when you say it imo, it’s a hypothetical boy

  • Elaine Cortez@lemm.eeEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    I interpret it as being analogous to “oh wow”. Some people will say “oh boy” in place of “oh wow”, kind of similar to how my friends will say “I know right” but I and some other people will instead say “I know eh”.

  • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    Yes. It’s ONLY supposed to be used when you find yourself leaping from life to life. Striving to put right what once went wrong. And hoping each time that your next leap will be the leap home.

    I don’t make the rules. I just enforce them.

  • Shadow@lemmy.ca
    0·
    8 months ago

    I don’t think it’s a gendered term, but you could switch to “oh snap”

  • kersploosh@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    8 months ago

    In a similar vein, I’m curious about the modern consensus on “you guys,” as in, “what do you guys want to do this weekend?”

    • clockwork_octopus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      FWIW, as a woman, I’ve never cared or felt excluded when people say “you guys” or “dude”. I say these things all the time in casual conversation. The only time I’ve felt weird about it is if these terms are used in a less casual setting, and even then, it’s usually because someone has used these terms and then realized that there is, in fact, at least one woman present, and then they start tripping all over themselves to correct their wording, and it’s awkward as fuck (and a little funny) watching them try to sort themselves out.

    • EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      I personally don’t like it as it makes me uncomfortable because I’m not a guy, and it makes me feel a bit excluded.

      That being said, I’m fully aware it’s rarely used in a gendered way anymore so I’m don’t generally say anything. It’s just how I feel. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  • Thelsim@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    8 months ago

    I’m not a native English speaker, but I always thought an expression like “oh boy” was more self-reflective. Like you say it more to yourself than to whoever you’re talking to.
    In which case, the other’s gender shouldn’t really matter?
    In any case, I personally don’t feel insulted or misgendered if someone uses it in a conversation with me.

  • unmagical@lemmy.ml
    0·
    8 months ago

    I’ve never had problems using terms like “look man,” “oh boy,” or “dude” In “normal” conversion with anyone until recently. I was talking to a trans-woman I know and definitely stopped myself from dropping “hey man” in our conversation because I thought she would not appreciate it. That’s caused some self reflection and while I’ll probably continue to use genderbent language when talking with my wife I’ll probably seek to minimize it elsewhere. I don’t really know how in tune a given woman I’m talking to is with their muliebrity and it seems not my place as a cis man to make that determination for them.

    I would say for a lot of people it probably doesn’t matter, but for those that it does it does a lot and it’s no skin off my back to try to be courteous in my speech with whomever.

    • Cataphract@lemmy.mlOP
      0·
      8 months ago

      TIL- Muliebrity (Muliebrity means womanly nature or qualities, or the condition of being a woman. It comes from Latin muliēbris, derived from mulier, meaning woman)

      Feel about the same as your case. Every one has preferred pronouns, I like to point out to conservative relatives that “sir” and “ma’am” is just another form that they learned growing up for certain individuals. It’s just basic manners.

    • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      I’d separate oh boy from hey man. Hey man is directed at someone, oh boy is just a remark about the state of things

  • nafzib@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    Saying “Oh boy” in the way you would say “Oh my” or “Oh wow” is not gendered in the sense that you aren’t calling anyone around you “boy”, but rather saying it to yourself as an exclamation; just like how religious people say “Oh God!” or “Oh my God!”; if you said “Oh God”, you wouldn’t be calling the other person “God”.

  • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    8 months ago

    I’m sure it’ll piss someone, somewhere off. Literally everything does. Watch, I’m about to post “I’m sure it’ll piss someone, somewhere off. Literally everything does.” on Lemmy, and it’ll piss someone off.