Guys and Girls . . . And Guys?

The Economist's Johnson, named after Samuel Johnson of dictionary fame, recently weighed in on the (primarily) American use of "guys" as a vocative to refer to groups of both men and women.  As a description of actual usage, it doesn't necessarily promote this sort of gender-exclusive reference (please read my sarcasm) but it does make an interesting point that "guys" can be used to refer to groups of both young men and young women.  He makes a careful distinction between "guys" as a vocative, and "guy" as a noun, since "Hey, guys," can be mixed-gender, while "that guy" cannot.  (Although, if I said a group of guys, I'm more than likely referring to a group of men.)

The really interesting point he makes is the distinction between "girl" referring to female children, and a girl as a young woman.  The distinction boils down to formality, apparently, as in formal settings you would never refer to a young woman as "girl," it being condescending.  However, when referring in an informal setting to a woman of post-voting age, but not quite age-of-responsibility (wherever that may lie), she is often referred to as a "girl."  It's an interesting perspective from a non-American viewpoint.