It’s not just newborns and deli sandwiches that are named after real people. Many English words have actual namesakes; these words are eponyms. You might be familiar with scientific words named after people (Fahrenheit, pasteurization, Darwinism), but eponyms can be found all over the dictionary. One surprising example is the word “guy,” which comes from a Renaissance-era Englishman named Guy Fawkes. While you may use “guys” today in reference to a general group of people, the origin story traces back to this very specific Guy.
“Remember, remember, the 5th of November” — November 1605, to be exact. This rhyme refers to the day Guy Fawkes became infamous. He was a co-conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, in which a group of English Catholics attempted to assassinate King James I by bombing the House of Lords at the Opening of Parliament in protest of the country’s Protestant rule. Just before he could light the fuse, Fawkes was apprehended by royal guards, arrested, and subsequently executed. November 5 became a day of celebration throughout England (called “Guy Fawkes Night” or “Bonfire Night”), when people would take to the streets carrying effigies of the would-be bomber. The figures, called “guys,” were typically rough-hewn and crude, much like Fawkes’ reputation, and the celebration of the thwarted bombing included lighting the guys aflame. This image of Fawkes became so pervasive that British people began using “guys” to describe any “grotesquely or poorly dressed person.”
The derogatory term gained widespread use more than 200 years later. We see an example in an 1836 letter from author Julia Charlotte Maitland about a trip to India: “The gentlemen are all ‘rigged Tropical,’ with their collars turned down, and small matters of neckcloths; – grisly Guys some of them turn out!” Note her specific use of a capital “G” in “Guys,” referring to the historical figure. By 1863, the “g” had gone lowercase, as it evolved into a general colloquialism rather than a specific historical reference.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, “guy” became used in a much broader and less derogatory sense to simply describe a man or boy. By the mid-20th century, groups of women also fell under the “guys” umbrella, though the term continues to be gendered, slanting toward men. If you’re looking for a gender-neutral replacement for “guys,” try “friends,” “folks,” or “y’all.”
