Gentle GolemAug 11, 2024

Looking for clarification on Israeli slang:

I use אחי (achi) essentially as a stand-in for "dude" in English. "Dude" is fairly gender neutral to me and I use it with mascs and femmes. Meanwhile, אחי feels very gendered to and wrong to use with someone female presenting.
And as far as I know, אחותי (achoti) doesn't have the same meaning at all.

Is there any chance that I'm wrong and that אחי actually is used in a gender neutral way in Israel? Or is there a feminine phrase that I can start using instead?

#Hebrew

Show threadqrazi
@noharmpun Asked a native Hebrew speaker and their response was: I don't think a lot of people use "achoti" for a woman, but I do think they use "achot sheli" or "achot" more often, which means essentially the same...
Aug 11, 2024 at 8:16amWeb
Show threadGentle GolemAug 11, 2024

@qrazi

It may depend on intonation, but if I heard someone say "achot sheli" I would 100% of the time think they were being literal. Either about a familial sibling or a nurse, depending on context.
Not saying you or your Israeli acquaintance is wrong, just that from my experience it feels further from the mark than achi for a woman or achoti.