I have a few questions:
I have a few questions:
我有几个问题：
(Wǒ yǒu jǐ gè wèn tí):
The characters "小姐 (xiǎo jie)" means "Miss (Young lady) / "Young lady" " but it can also mean "Prostitute."
Would girls be offended if I call them "小姐 (xiǎo jie)"?
For example: If I meet a girl and I don't know her name, if I say "你好,小姐 (nǐ hǎo, xiǎo jie) <- (Hi, Miss)" would she think I am calling her a prostitute or a Miss (Young lady)?
In what situation/s would girls be offended when I call them "小姐 (xiǎo jie)"?
Search from various English teachers...
Corrections · 5
1
I have a few questions:
I have a few questions:
我有几个问题：
(Wǒ yǒu jǐ gè wèn tí):
The characters "小姐 (xiǎo jie)" means "Miss (Young lady) / "Young lady" " but it can also mean "Prostitute."
Would girls be offended if I call them "小姐 (xiǎo jie)"?
For example: If I meet a girl and I don't know her name, if I say "你好,小姐 (nǐ hǎo, xiǎo jie) <- (Hi, Miss)" would she think I am calling her a prostitute or a Miss (Young lady)?
In what situation/s would girls be offended when I call them "小姐 (xiǎo jie)"?
In proper Chinese, it means "Miss". The other meaning is slang or a euphemistic way of spealing. So it all depends on the context and the style of language used. It the person looks like a street walker, then it must be as such. Also, the person spoken to definitely knows which meaning you meant. If she doesn't like you, she can take it the wrong way. I won't worry if I were you.
For example, 美人儿, 你是个小姐嗎? Hey beautiful! Are you a miss? Definitely not the standard meaning.
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Play it safe and call all young women 美女, it works whether you're male or female, and it's a good ice-breaker.
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I heard in Guangdong Province, you'd better not say 小姐 to young lady.
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actually,小姐means prostitute is a kind of new usage in recent years.Traditionally 小姐means miss,so don't worry that you'll offend people,because most of us will consider it as miss,of course there are people who are really sensitive.
but if you add a surname before 小姐,for example 张小姐，王小姐,in this case, 小姐only means miss and will not cause any different meaning
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As a general rule,when a foreigner calls a chinese girl "小姐", she will think that he is calling her a Miss.
In my opinion,if a person looks her unpolitely or she is a real prostitute,she will think that it means prostitute.
Hope it will help you .
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