小姐 (xiǎo jiě) — young lady; Miss (polite term for a young woman); (slang, potentially offensive) prostitute
Definition
Polite address for a young woman; equals Miss. In modern usage it can imply a sex worker, so 女士 (Ms.) is the safer formal choice. Not a compliment — 少女 emphasizes youth, 女士 emphasizes politeness.
noun
young ladyMiss (polite term for a young woman)(slang, potentially offensive) prostitute
Measure word · 个, 位
Easily confused
Examples
- 小姐。Nà wèi xiǎo jiě shì zhè jiā gōng sī de jīng lǐ.That young lady is the manager of this company.
- 小姐，？xiǎo jiě, Qǐng wèn qù huǒ chē zhàn zěn me zǒu?Miss, could you tell me how to get to the train station?
- 小姐，。Xiàn zài yǒu xiē dì fāng bù suí biàn jiào xiǎo jiě le, pà yǐn qǐ wù huì.Nowadays in some places people don't casually call others 'xiǎojiě' for fear of causing misunderstanding.
Appears in
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