# Granny



## notpinenuts

If I wanted to say "happy birthday, granny!" to a female (who actually isn't old), would "bunicuţă" be appropriate? Or does that word have any negative connotations? Or is there a better colloquial phrase for this?


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## liru

"bunicuţă" is not an offensive word, so you can say: "La mulţi ani, bunicuţo". 

It has this forme (the word ends in "o") because of the vocativ case. 

If you call "bunicuţă" a romanian woman who is not that old after all, that means she is more peaceful, she likes to cook or to work in her house... maybe she likes to advise the others...


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## robbie_SWE

You can also say "*La mulţi ani, mamaie*". 

 robbie


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## farscape

robbie_SWE said:


> You can also say "*La mulţi ani, mamaie*".
> 
> robbie



Come now, that would be insulting, unless the woman is very old and you casually address her with "mamaie" 

Later,


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## robbie_SWE

farscape said:


> Come now, that would be insulting, unless the woman is very old and you casually address her with "mamaie"
> 
> Later,


 
 Hmmm...I've always called my grandmother "_*mamaie*_" even when she was younger. She always wanted to be called that, so I never interpreted it as being offensive or insulting just affectionate (almost like saying "second mum"). For me, *mamaie* is like saying "gran, granny, grandma". 

I personally avoid using diminutives like _bunicuţă_, because they kind of deteriorate the language and make her seem inferior (people use them ad absurdum, especially in Romania ). 

 robbie


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## Trisia

I've been thinking about this thread. I don't think we have enough information about the situation at hand, and that there isn't a single possible answer anyway.
I almost wrote that women living primarily in the countryside  would probably be more used to "mamaie" than city-living grannies, but  I'm not sure it would be too accurate. 


My grandma on my mum's side was "bunica". Not "bunicuța". I was very young when she died, but that's how we talk about her and that's how my mum calls her own grandma from her mum's side.

My grandma on my dad's side has always been "mamaie". Sometimes "even mămăică", but not often. She likes it and all my siblings and cousins call her that.

Back when I studied social work I caught myself a few times calling old women "mamaie". It didn't happen a lot, and it was always done affectionately. But I got afraid that I was being disrespectful, perhaps in the way that some younger women call senior citizens "hon" or "dearie" and although they do it with the best intentions sometimes those people are hurt.

Anyway, calling a woman who is _not _your grandmother "bunicuțo" -- unless you're about to marry her granddaughter/son -- sounds too much like a fairy tale thing to me. In Romanian children's stories you often find young princes going on quests and meeting older women that they call "auntie", "granny" or the like.

At the end of the day, I think each of us have experienced these things somewhat differently and it's hard to tell. Whatever you choose, as a foreigner I don't think you don't run any risk greater than merely not giving as _much _pleasure as you intended. You can't really offend people by calling them "bunicuțo" or "mamaie" as long as you have a cute accent and you meant well.

Wow. That's one confusing post. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Perhaps if you tell us a bit more about your situation it will become clearer.


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## farscape

My take from the context prezented by OP is that a) the woman is not his/her grandmother and b) she is not old or older than he/she is.

Nothing wrong with using the term "mamaie" when refering to one's own grandmother, or even when adressing and elderly woman (who is not a relative) from a rural area ("mamaie Floare" comes to mind).

However, in an urban environment, addressing any woman who's not your granny with "mamaie" most likely will not be well received, even more so if she is rather young.

As an example of the pejorative connotation "mamaie" can take unless used as explained above is the derogatory term coined in the early '90s "mamăi FSN-iste" to define elderly women showing their support for FSN. Granted, the plural plays a role too, but you get the idea.

There is nothing wrong with the diminutive "bunicuţă" - it's much older and well established compared to the wave of dumb diminutives used in today's language.

Best,


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## viuchi

I think "La mulţi ani, mamaie!" is a very good solution if your intention is teasing a young girl in a friendly way.


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## notpinenuts

To give some clarification for everyone, it's a 20 year old female that I'm rather close to and she's from around Bistrita if I remember right. This is apparently not as straightforward as I thought it would be haha. It seems like "mamaie" might be the right choice, or maybe forgetting about this will just simplify everything. Thanks for all the input so far though, everyone.


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