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Thread: How do you call those servants in the restaurants?

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[quote=BBQQ,282221]As a foreigner, did something embarrassing happen to you when dinning in a Chinese restaurant? How do you call those who serve in the restaurants? I know that you call them “waiter or waitress” in English. But do you know how to call them in Chinese?

My foreign friend told me that he had an awkward experience in a restaurant. After the meal, he was going to pay the bill. He spoke to a female waitress: “小姐，买单(xiǎo jiě mǎi dān).(Please bring me the bill).” The girl came to him unhappily and said: “我(wǒ)不(bú)是(shì)小(xiǎo)姐(jiě). 请(qǐng)叫(jiào)我(wǒ)服(fú)务(wù)员(yuán)(I am not Xiao Jie. Please call me Fu Wu Yuan (Waitress).” Usually, we call them 服(fú)务(wù)员(yuán). When paying the bill, we say “服务员，买单(fú wù yuán mǎi dān).” Remember not to call them 小姐(xiǎo jiě). In earlier days, we called those female servants in the restaurants 小姐(xiǎo jiě). Nowadays, people seldom do this because it has become a derogatory term. Those call girls or prostitutes are called 小(xiǎo)姐(jiě). Thus, those waitresses don’t like people to call them 小(xiǎo)姐(jiě).

However, it is said that Shanghai girls who work in the restaurants don’t like people to call them 服务员(fú wù yuán). They think that it is impolite. How should we call them? I have no idea. In Beijing restaurants, you’d better not call the female servants 小(xiǎo)姐(jiě) since it has become a derogatory term.

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