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I assumed you meant the direct translation of “girl”/“boy”. That would be a no-no.

Much of the western world is being trained to take offense to as much as possible.

Nah. This is like it is in political discussions or online discussions, but in real life, in real time, it is not this way.

You want to use standard and customary forms of communcation, though. You can be a little friendlier, or a little more formal, but it's never good to stray too far if meeting or talking to a person the first time.

However, if you get a bead on the person and their personality, you can adjust your style to theirs is best.