euphemisms..

lydia1981
 January 29, 2008, 11:29 AM posted in General Discussion

I do voluntary work for an organization that helps prostitutes (its a kind of union),

and i'd like to know how 'direct' or vulgar the following words are:

 

发廊妹 (for girls that work in so called 'hair salons' or 'massage salons')

三陪小姐

 

Of course I don't want to use the term 'jinu', so i'm looking for alternatives that will be understood by insiders (without them being offended)

I also use the word

娱乐商业

'entertainment business' as an euphemism for prostitution industry

 

Do you think Chinese women will know what i'm talking about?

Profile picture
kimiik
 January 29, 2008, 12:11 PM

There's 贱业 (jiànyè) in the ABC dictionnary. Cheap/humble business seems to be a synonym of prostitution in chinese. You could then try 贱业的人 but I didn't see this word in this sort of context before and it's not in online dictionnaries.

Profile picture
lydia1981
 January 29, 2008, 12:23 PM

thanks bbjt! 贱业 seems a bit derogatory to me, though We will talk to prostitutes and give them a small leaflet with information, so the more neutral the better.

Profile picture
RJ
 January 29, 2008, 02:53 PM

Lydia, how about 小姐。 Everybody seems to be concerned these days that you should not use this term for waitress because it has come to mean prostitute, especially up north. This one seems pretty mild and can go either way. If said with a wink or a nod maybe this could work for you? Maybe not direct enough?

Profile picture
henning
 January 29, 2008, 03:26 PM

My Chinese collegue suggests the official term: 性服务工作者 For verbal addressing: 小姐

Profile picture
kimiik
 January 29, 2008, 04:10 PM

But is 性服务 an euphemism ?