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In the UK we would use the word "mate" which has no connection to mating!
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I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
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I thought that 'mate' is something you drink very hot to not to taste that terrible thing 
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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That is Mate (pronounced mah-tay)not mate (pronounced mayt)
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I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
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That's what most beautiful in English - same word different pronouncing...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Mate (the drink) is not an English word - I believe it's of Portuguese origin
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I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
=========================================================
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I tend to go for "girly friend" or "feminine friend" 
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That could still refer to male friends... 
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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It depends if the gender is important. eg if you want to tell someone that your friend gave you a lift somewhere you could just say;
"My friend gave me a lift to work" - the fact that they are a female is irrelevant. However sometimes gender *is* important. eg you might say "My friend has a great arse"...if you didn't stipulate that the friend in question was female it might lead to embarrassment, so in instances like that people try and introduce additional gender specific pronouns just to make it clear, so you might say "My friend has a great arse, I think she works out". The addition of the "she" lets people know the friend in question is female.
In a work situation, it might be best to just leave gender out and simply say "friend". Unless you work in a strip club.
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F-ES Sitecore wrote: In a work situation, it might be best to just leave gender all talk of co-workers' arses out and simply say "friend". Unless you work in a strip club.
FTFY.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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What's wrong with using their name: "My friend Ruth has a great arse" or "My friend Bob has a great arse". Simply adding one word clarifies it for everyone.
Peter Wasser
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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What about my friend Chris has a great arse?*
Speaking as someone who shares the same first name as my mother-in-law, names do not always tell you the gender.
*I don't, but my MiL's is alright.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Demonstrating one of the great joys of language - context matters. A fuller response could only be given in The Soapbox.
Peter Wasser
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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My friend Bob had a great arse; her name was Robin but she always called herself Bob. My name is Robert and I went by Bob for a while as well so it got quite confusing (for people trying to talk to us) during our time together. She started calling me Robert as she apparently found it weird to call someone else Bob and that's when I reverted to the name my mother had given me - the end of my youthful rebellion! My next girlfriend was called Sam - much less confusion!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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I know a bloke also called Chris, he married a woman called Chris, then she divorced him, then they got married again.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Mmm, some names are not gender-specific though. The English language is such a minefield when trying to compliment someone's posterior.
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I just call them by their name! They don't mind.
Do you seriously have to confuse things here?
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan wrote: Do you seriously have to confuse things here?
No, but some of super's cow-orkers are.[^] It looks like he(?) was asking us to confirm that they're doing it wrong. Do you really have a problem with people trying to learn how not to elephant our language up?
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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"Learning" and "using" are two different things. He can of course learn many ways of addressing ladies in the same room. How he actually calls them depends on his choice.
After all, even if you find one good word, do you think he would like to address her that way? After all, friend can be anyone, good friends don't mind addressing them by their names.
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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What you can do is put a pause between girl and friend, when you mean a friend who is a girl. Or just call her a friend, since it doesn't make any difference whether the friend is male or female, unless you are sexist! 
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Or you can say girl, pause and wink, and then say friend, and then finish the rest of your scotch. Very sassy!
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What are you talking about? Do you imply that there can be a relationship between men and women that doesn't involve sex somewhere between 'not friend' and 'girl friend'? 
Ok, but seriously, 'friend' should work either way. I've just checked a dictionary[^] which suggests both 'friend' and 'pal'. It even mentions a colloquial, female, variant, 'gal pal'.
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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Ho[^]???  
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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In the Indian context, I** just say:
- Madam is coming, or
- Sir is coming.
** Need to keep in mind that I'm old school, 50 years of age. So, the 'Madam' or 'Sir' may be decades younger than me
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In North America (at least), males tend to refer to their male and female friends simply as "friends", while females tend to refer to their female friends as "girlfriends" and their male friends as "friends".
/ravi
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Wait ... they let girls work these days? 
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