This is just something I've been wondering about for a while. A long time ago, I used to think of any female past their teens as a woman. But now I'm in my mid 20's and still call girls around my age girls.

I don't know... It's a weird transition from call them girls to women but I think the early 20s are plenty old.

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mid twenties for me i guess, still i think i would call most of the people of the opposite gender that is around my age "girls", and call woman the ones that are older than me.

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hmmm a woman? well respectively as long as they are mature body as well as mind then i'm saying 18-22?

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when they're older than me, that will change as i get older

I think if I was talking to my co-wokers about a customer who looked like she was in her 30s and over, I would call her woman. Also too if she looked young but she seemed to have kids with her.

Since I'm in my mid-20s, it will feel weird if I call a customer who in their early 20s woman. It might be different if I was say 16 years old. Then I might call someone in their mid-20s woman since I felt a lot younger than them at 16 years old. Same thing applies for male, whether I call them "that guy" or "that man". I compare how old they look to my own age to what I call them.

to avoid conflict, i call girls/women/ladies, females.

tho when i don't, i call them ladies, i don't like the word "woman" makes them sound old.

I agree with the description, but not with the listed ages. I find many girls/ladies/women don't actually mature into women until mid twenties. Speaking more mentally/emotionally than anything.

I call a female a woman when it suits the conversation/reference to call her a woman.

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I'd rather follow their personal mental developement.

Good policy.

I tend to prefer the term 'wimmin' though.

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i usually say "lady" instead, unless it's in writing (like a uni paper or whatever) or when i need to use politically correct/formal speech (which is rare) then i'll use "women".

By age.
less than 5 years older than me- girls
5-15 years older- depends on aspect and behavior
15+ years older than me- women.

I'm generally more careful when talking in a formal tone. As for regular chat, I never really pay attention to it.

I still call girls my age girls and I'm 19. I remember being at work though, I work in a museum, and I was in the shop. A little kid was buying something and his mother said 'Give the lady your money'. I was like LADY! Until then I never though of myself as grown up, I still have a hard time accepting the fact I'm 20 in a few months. In general though I guess girls start being women around early 20s.

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