So is &quot;man&quot;. As in, &quot;You totally should have gotten than promotion, man.&quot; Or &quot;Man, I really love this pizza.&quot; Yes, it&#x27;s used gender-neutral. But both historically and in common practice it&#x27;s a noun, verb, interjection or vocative adjunct that most commonly refers to a male.<p>That aspect, that it was at one time, or still is, gender-specific, is what makes it inappropriate to call a person who doesn&#x27;t identify with that gender. Like many other words which can apply to more than one kind of person, you have to think about how <i>the listener</i> will interpret it, not how <i>you</i> want them to interpret it.