tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6231564.post30373752760960294..comments2024-03-02T06:44:49.136-10:00Comments on Far Outliers: Parallel Pejoration of Terms in Korean, Japanese, ChineseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6231564.post-54584135916573147712009-03-16T14:50:00.000-10:002009-03-16T14:50:00.000-10:00It is not merely being discouraged by some sociolo...It is not merely being discouraged by some sociologists. In Beijing, at least, <I>xiǎojiě</I> has almost completely disappeared in the space of a few short years, supplanted by <I>fúwùyuán</I>. The reason is precisely that given in the post: <I>xiǎojiě</I> is identified with workers in the sex trade. (As you say, there is an older usage of <I>xiǎojiě</I>, predating its use for waitresses, to refer to young women of nobility. I have heard this usage precisely once, used in a disparaging sense of a young woman who was considered to be pampered and delicate, similar to the Japanese term <I>o-jō-san</I>).JosephKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10351663532845141243noreply@blogger.com