[hildea]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Are there any languages with a word with the same usage, and translation mechanisms (dictionary, software, other) that would map that word to "men"?

I tested with Google translate, English to Norwegian:

• "Come on guys" --> "Kom igjen folkens" (= folks or people, gender neutral)
• "All the guys" --> "Alle gutta" (= boys or men, definitively gendered)

As someone with English as a second language, my immediate impression is that "guys" is gendered. If someone used "guys" about a group I was part of, I'd assume I was included, but I'd be mildly (very mildly) annoyed. (And if someone said "Come on, guys and Hilde" I'd be much more annoyed )

Originally Posted by Sirtel

In some languages (Estonian, Russian, presumably others) the singular you and the plural you are two different words also. It's considered polite to use the plural you with strangers, although this custom is starting to disappear with younger generations.

Originally Posted by Quoth

Perhaps also German and French?

Yes, German and French, as well as Spanish, Italian, and the Scandinavian languages all have different words for singular and plural you. I've always thought that English is the exception. Does anyone know of other languages that don't have separate words for the two?

"Thou" used to be singular "you". And then "you" also became a formal version of "thou", and later English-speaking people started to use the formal form for everybody. (And then I went down a rabbit hole of internet search, and found https://ludwig.guru/blog/you-vs-thou...ic-revolution/ and https://www.merriam-webster.com/word...top-using-thou, and learned that people have been passionate about pronouns before, to the extent of beating up people who used them "wrongly".)

When thinking about it, I also realize that Norwegian and German uses they as the polite form, not you. So it's like:

• Canst thou tell me the way to the post office? (Informal)
• Can They tell me they way to the post office? (Formal, Norwegian and German)
• Can You tell me the way to the post office? (Formal, Swedish and French)

Although in Norway, the formal form is almost never used. I've heard it in real life exactly once, in the 1980s.

And now I'm reminded of the excellent fantasy novel "Goblin Empereror" by Katherine Addison/Sarah Monette, where there's informal I/thou, and formal we/you.

“I… we must speak with our cousin,” he said, the constructions of the formal first person awkward and unaccustomed. “Do you… that is, you must be tired. Let us summon a manservant to tend to your needs.”