Bikini and Beach Girls: Euro Bikini Girls 054

By the 18th century, there was a difference in some uses of the word between England and the Americas. In England, a girl was often a serving girl, while in the United States a girl was often a sweetheart or girlfriend, for example, in the lyrics of the popular song "The Girl I Left Behind Me". In England, the word girl was also used as a euphemism for prostitute, as for example by Richard Steele in The Spectator.

In the United States today, the word girl is often used as an intended compliment or used humorously. A woman of a certain age might be called a girl to suggest that she looks younger than she is, or a group of women might speak of themselves as "us girls", though all are well over the age of maidenhood. Adult women will sometimes refer to themselves as "girls", as in "We're having a girls' night out" or "It's a girl thing". But social shifts generally permit only the female gender group themselves to use such terminology without giving offense.

Some feminists consider the use of girl applied to any adult female to be offensive. They claim that the word is used to insinuate a lower social status compared to adult males. Others feel the word is used to indicate low morals, weakness, or homosexuality. Other women consider the word as merely a courtesy term, similar to the way that lady is used to indicate females, even those which are not the wife of a Lord. There is a parallel objection to use of the word boy to describe a male over the age of puberty.

Using the word girl to refer to a male is usually meant to be insulting, such as "You throw like a girl". The more insulting girly-boy, which originated in 1589 as girle-boy, is used to indicate a weak or "sissy" male. Calling a male a girl often serves as a provocation to fight (see fighting words). While outsiders might use girl or girly as a pejorative to refer to a gay male, within the gay community it is used as a term of endearment.

The word girl has many synonyms, including belle, chick, doll, girly, gal, lass or lassie, maiden, and miss. The slang word gal, as in "Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight", is a variant pronunciation of girl.