I thought I would share this video from the Straits Times Razor TV. The hosts of this show are discussing a news story describing a woman from China yelling at a shop assistant for calling her ‘xiao jie’, which she interpreted as prostitute.
The term xiao jie is translated as ‘young lady’ or ‘miss’ , but in some parts of China, xiao jie refers to a prostitute. I first learned about this new meaning when I was studying Mandarin in Shanghai a few years ago, and have fortunately gotten in the habit of using other words to address females. In Singapore, however, xiao jie is still used in the same way we use ‘miss’ in English. For example, at a restaurant you will hear patrons using ‘xiao jie’ to address waitresses.
When I was in China last month, I heard many of my students using the xiao jie, and I advised them to use a different word (there are many). Although it is probably not as big of a deal in Shanghai, it is better to play it safe. I was speaking to a Chinese professor that told me a story about the first time she learned about xiao jie’s new meaning. Somewhere in central China, she called a waitress ‘xiao jie‘, to which the waitress replied, “your mom is a xiao jie“. She was quite confused, and it took some time for the two parties to understand each other.
As a sidenote – I find the comments under the video very entertaining. I wonder if a similar discussion would follow an event that involved a conflict between, say, British English and American English.
