A:上海 小姑娘 老 嗲呃。[上海 女孩儿 很 嗲的。]
Shanghai girls are so cutesy.

B:做啥？侬 想 轧朋友 啦？[干嘛？你 想 谈朋友 啦？]
Why? Do you want to get a girlfriend?

A:呵呵，对呃。阿拉 想 轧 个 老 会发嗲呃 小姑娘。[呵呵，对的。我 想 谈 个 很 会发嗲的 女孩。]
Yeah. I want a girl who can be cutesy.

B:就侬 个能？不要做梦了。[就你 这样？不要 做梦 了。]
You? Wake up!

上海女人都很"作" (shànghǎi nǚrén dōu hěn "zuō").

Shanghai women are all very "zuō". Anyone know or want to take a stab at what this"zuō" means? :)

Do you mean coy, childish, cute?

很作 high maintenance (negative connotation?)

很嗲 cutesy (positive connotation?)

很会撒娇 cutesy (both, positive and negative connotation??)

那上海女孩好像刮腿毛。 ;o)

Let me elaborate a bit on what I know about the 3 words.

嗲 actually has two connotations. One is the whole cutesy, pouty act, (which can specifically be implied by saying 发嗲), but it can also apparently describe a 'cute' girl just based on her looks.

作 can be good or bad, depending on how excessive it is. It can also be split between 小作 and 大作 to differentiate. It generally implies a girl who seems to like stirring up trouble, criticizing or bossing around her boyfriend, etc. That's definitely high maintenance in my book. :) I also think 'feisty' is a pretty good fit, given that it too can be good or bad.

撒娇 is specifically to act like a spoiled child to get one's way, and it's really close to 'throwing a tantrum'. It too, however, can vary in excessiveness, so it can include 嗲 and 作 at times I think.

So, they're all quite related, but they have their subtle differences. I love these kinds of words. :) I find it really interesting trying to understand words that don't have exact equivalents in English.

Yes, we have this kind of saying, like 嗲声嗲气，嗲妹妹，嗲宝宝。They are all 嗲了伐得了, hehe.