So I’ve realized that in conversations I’ll use traditional terms for men as general terms for all genders, both singularly and for groups. I always mean it well, but I’ve been thinking that it’s not as inclusive to women/trans people.
For example I would say:
“What’s up guys?” “How’s it going man?” "Good job, my dude!” etc.
Replacing these terms with person, people, etc sounds awkward. Y’all works but sounds very southern US (nowhere near where I am located) so it sounds out of place.
So what are some better options?
Edit: thanks for all the answers peoples, I appreciate the honest ones and some of the funny ones.
The simplest approach is to just drop the usage of guys, man, etc. Folks for groups and mate for singular appeal to me when I do want to add one in between friends.
I’ve never had an issue with y’all and “dude/dudes” in gender neutral ways. They’re the natural words I grew up with. On rare occasions, somebody doesn’t prefer “dude” and I’ll use different terms for them and around them.
In professional settings such as work email, I tend to use the more formal gender-neutral terms like “people” and “everybody” and “they/them”, but I’m also in a region where “y’all” is accepted in formal conversation, so I often use that.