xiaojie

xueyou
May 11, 2015, 04:04 AM posted in General Discussion

I was asking my gf (ningboese) about the whether xiaojie is just applied to unmaried women like our miss or if can be used for young women in general. She replied by saying NEVER use xiaojie. Its a term that means call girl down in Yunnan and neighbouring provinces. That use of that term is known throughout mainland China so that Xiaojie as a polite term of address is now antiquated. She suggested Xiaomai if you must use something but insisted that you really don't need a replacement term most of the time in daily life.

Thoughts?

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Weibode
May 14, 2015, 08:58 AM

Depends where you are, in Taiwan it´s perfectly fine to call the waitress 小姐, in Mainlaind china it seems to be a no-go almost anywhere (speaking from personal experience). If you call a woman´s surname+xiaojie e.g. 王小姐 , depending on her age that might be ok, I guess (?!??!?!)