称呼 cheng1hu (n)- form of address
In China, it is considered impolite to refer to a person's name directly so it is more common to attach a title or "称呼" before their name, or even just calling them with a "称呼".
Here are some common ones
服务员 fu2wu4yuan2
waiter/serviceperson
小姐 xiao2jie3
Chinese equivalent to "miss", except that in the South, it can refer to a prostitute
老板 lao2ban3
boss (only for men); can refer to a man working in a shop
小朋友 xiao3peng2you3
"small friend"; refers to children
(my personal favorite)
阿姨 a1yi2
auntie, but usually refers to an older lady, as well as a cleaning lady/nanny
师傅 shi1fu
master, but refers to anyone with a skill. I've heard it commonly associated with taxi drivers.
大姐 da4jie3
big sister; an older lady but not that old. I call my landlord "大姐" because I don't know her real name.
2 comments:
a couple of comments:
i was under the impression that everywhere xiaojie referred to a prostitue.
i've heard someone use laoban to refer to a woman running a bike repair shop.
i hear people say xiaojie here all the time. my teacher says that its common up here in beifang and you know how wild and crazy nanfang is with their kouyu
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