Word a male can use to refer to a female that is not old or young (girl/lady/woman)


I'm a married male in my mid-thirties and meet a woman of a similar age and talk about business.


I want to refer to this meeting later, and it feels weird to say "I met a girl today...," (feels like it describes someone younger or it was romantic) or "I met a lady today..." (feels like it describes someone older.)


Is the best term just "I met a woman today..."?



Answer



Depending on context, all three could be acceptable, with woman probably being the most neutral.


However, in all three cases, you seem to want to put emphasis on the fact she was a woman... if you met to talk about business, you could use a job-title.


You could refer to her (depending on the nature of your business relation and her job description) as a colleague, a designer, a manager, a developer, an investor, an analyst, etc.


Apart from professional relationships, you could simply go with someone, a person or an individual, as Qaz notes in the comment.


I think the most neutral way to convey that you spoke to someone and she happened to be female would be something along the lines of:



I spoke to this analyst today, she gave me some very good insight in the business processes.



If you really want to emphasize that she was a notable person, I would suggest to go with woman:



I met this great woman today! Her insight in the business processes was amazing!



Although lady could be used as well - it can convey respect (for instance respect for her professional capabilities), rather than just age:



That lady I met today had some really good ideas about improving the business processes!



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