@Sensei: is that a good thing?? I love the ... after my name, epic pause XD
Rule of thumb: It is always better to make a person chuckle than to make a person wince.

@Sensei: is that a good thing?? I love the ... after my name, epic pause XD

@Killz: We do have terms like that but theyre not really appropriate to say here

Yea, Chav is a very english Stereotypical term. I don't think there is an American similar term but if you think "wannabe hip gangsters" without the hip and gangster part, that is what you get

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav

In short, they aren't pleasant people...

Manju ... dear heart ... you make me chuckle far more than you make me wince.

Oh dear then I probably make you wince alot Thank kami youve never heard me talk then cuz I say it alot in rl

Chavs down your street?? I have no idea what you just said. Could you translate that into American?

I rarely call anyone "dude" regardless of gender. I'm old enough to remember when the word "dude" was considered horrific Valley Speak slang, not to be uttered by anyone who had an ounce of communication skills. I've never gotten past that notion although society as a whole seems to have accepted it. (I guess that means the Valley boys have won. *sigh*) But I still wince a little whenever I hear it spoken or see it written.

I don't think I will be using "dude" to address any of my girl friends (not girlfriends unfortunately) anytime soon

But "guys" definitely is a frequent term for (though I still think it a sort of "english" kind of thing).

Oni needs to fight off drunken Scots?, though look man

But it's probably better than the chavs down my street (thats why I am perfectly happy in my "fort").

I normally use "dude" or "guys" even when Im referring to girls, mostly since most of my rl and even online friends are guys. I dont really consider either gender specific I guess, also since "dude" is kinda becoming a word by itself

Yeah Im normally not referred to in the female sense XD

@GTO: Fighting drunken Scots, eh? And yes the beer does get watered down, which is why I prefer Vodka

hmmm....just jumping into the conversation, where i come from we still use gender-specific words, such as "blokes", "mates", "birds", "missus" (if your referring to someone's partner or your own) or in my case "lasses" or "girls"

But then again my baby sister who is far more popular for her own good, (she's a pretty high maintenance girl ~ugg boots~ ) i've heard her use the American word "guys" a lot, but then again she does watch an un-healthy amount of Desperate Housewives....

But i do come from the harsh & bitter viking uneducated northern England where we periodicially have to fight off the drunken Scots just in time to have some warm bitter ale and biscuits so i guess it's just a question of my old upbringing.

I suspect they are much more closer to you Americans the closer we get to London, (not to mention the warmer the weather, the beer gets more watered and golden too i suspect )

I've noticed that some people will refer to both men and women as "dude". It's almost become a genderless word like "mankind" or (for some people) "guys". My freshman college roommate always addressed a collective group as "guys" even if all the people in the group were all girls.

I can't say for other terms though. Mainly because I've seen you address by a masculine term a few too many times.

On a related note, seeing a female referred to as an "actor" instead of as an "actress" still throws me for a loop. What's wrong with acknowledging that she's a woman?