girl

Deciding whether to call someone a "girl" can be tricky. Here are a few guidelines:

  • You usually don't call someone a "girl" if they are more than about 5 years older than you.
  • A person who's old enough to be a grandmother isn't usually called a "girl".
  • It's more appropriate to call a friend or someone you know socially a "girl". Calling someone you know through business a "girl" is usually not a good idea.
  • Men should be more careful about calling someone a "girl" because it can seem condescending.

In the example above, the speaker is female and talking about another woman who's around the same age, so she says "girl".

This phrase appears in these lessons: