# 帅哥 (in a greeting)



## wishonatrish

Hi peeps!

How do you use 帅哥 as a greeting? Or...what's are the common contexts for using the term of endearment ＂帅哥＂?

Background: I have a colleague who, when I walk in to work in the morning, will say, ＂美女来了。。。！＂ So I'd really like to know what Chinese people (i.e. Chinese speakers) consider appropriate possible responses, such as to provide an apt segue to a follow-on conversation.

So this is to say that, instead of the boring, ＂早安，你好。＂, I'm looking for something more informal and lively. 
P.S. Please also say where you're from (China/Taiwan/Malaysia/Singapore) because I'm sure different cultures would have different views on how appropriate various uses of the term ＂帅哥＂ is.

Thanks heaps in advance!


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## zhg

Personally I have only used these terms  to attract the attention of waiters or waitresses eg. in restaurants, bars etc ,but never for greetings. Using 帅哥 美女 to someone you are familiar with is strange. At least my freinds and I never have called each other 帅哥 美女. In your situation I guess maybe you are new to your colleague and he or she just want to start a conversation or even get to know you by saying that. I can't speak for you simply because I am not you, but you might be interested in knowing that traditionally Chinese people tend to act polite when they recieve compliments,like(哪有! would be my respond to 美女/帅哥来了...！ with appropraite stresses and tones) which ,to my knowledge, is considered rude and inappropriate in western culture.


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## wishonatrish

But, from my knowledge, my Mum's Taiwanese friend responds to compliments with the likes of, ＂谢谢大哥，改天我要买咖啡给你！＂...or something like that....So...can I work the word 帅哥 into a similar response?

Also, since it's strange, is it possible that 美女 was meant in sarcasm?


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## zhg

Of course you can, I am not saying that you must respond with my suggestion ,but you are free to say anything you want to say, there's no rules when it comes to casual talks like that. And actually, I think it's quite clever to work the word 帅哥 into the response,＂谢谢帅哥，改天我要买咖啡给你！＂ ,which sounds great.




> Also, since it's strange, is it possible that 美女 was meant in sarcasm?



Well you'd better ask him/herself, but since nothing sarcastic in the context, ie a greeting, I guess he/she meant by heart.

Edit: Maybe I haven't made my point clear. What I was saying was that ,Traditionally when being complimented by others , Chinese speakers turn down the compliments instead of accepting them, which may *not* be true in all Chinese speaking areas. especially in higly developed places. More importantly it depends on individual speakers and varies from person to person.


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## BODYholic

wishonatrish said:


> P.S. Please also say where you're from (China/Taiwan/Malaysia/Singapore) because I'm sure different cultures would have different views on how appropriate various uses of the term ＂帅哥＂ is.



It's common for us here in Singapore to call one another 帅哥/美女, especially for friends/colleagues whom we know very well. A typical conversation goes like this,"帅哥,可以帮个忙吗？", "什么事？辣妹。". Of course, it would be out of our mind to pull this on our bosses.  

And to answer your question, when someone said "美女来了。。。！". You could say, "对呀！美女来找帅哥了。". Next time, when you see him, greet him with "哇塞！帅哥今天这么早(上班)。"

For us, 帅哥/美女/辣妹 are merely casual terms used to address friends. And they have to be taken with a bucket of salt.

Just in case you are interested, we call people we barely know "老板".  E.g. taxi drivers, our toilet janitors, security personnel in our  buildings and even those colleagues who sit 2 floors below my  department. I obviously haven't a clue what are their names.


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## zhg

Well I guess there's a regional differece here ,unlike BODYholic I only use these terms with strangers , ie. people whose names I don't know, to attract their attentions. Calling your best friends, colleagues whom you know quite well 帅哥, 美女 ,sounds as if you are flirting with them, unless “帅哥", "美女”  are excatly their nicknames or an intimate endearment only known between you and him/her.


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## xiaolijie

I agree with zhg,  帅哥and 美女 can sound flirty or giving the wrong signal when used to the wrong person or in a wrong place.


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## wishonatrish

BODYholic said:


> It's common for us here in Singapore to call one another 帅哥/美女, especially for friends/colleagues whom we know very well. A typical conversation goes like this,"帅哥,可以帮个忙吗？", "什么事？辣妹。". Of course, it would be out of our mind to pull this on our bosses.
> 
> And to answer your question, when someone said "美女来了。。。！". You could say, "对呀！美女来找帅哥了。". Next time, when you see him, greet him with "哇塞！帅哥今天这么早(上班)。"
> 
> For us, 帅哥/美女/辣妹 are merely casual terms used to address friends. And they have to be taken with a bucket of salt.
> 
> Just in case you are interested, we call people we barely know "老板".  E.g. taxi drivers, our toilet janitors, security personnel in our  buildings and even those colleagues who sit 2 floors below my  department. I obviously haven't a clue what are their names.



BODYholic, you are fantastic!!!!!


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## Ben pan

Who knows when and where people starts using  帅哥，靓妹，美女 as a greeting? In my opinion, it seems to origin in the South in modern times (I do not know the exact place and time), if so,  is there similar way of greeting in traditional Chinese?


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## depaul93

when people greeting someone with "帅哥" or "美女", there are mainly two scenario:

1. you don't know the person, to show respect or be polite 
Eg: 在街上, "美女/帅哥你好, 请问科技园怎么走?"
在餐馆, "美女, 请问这道菜什么时候上?"
在地铁, "帅哥, 能让一下吗, 我有急事儿" etc

2. you are close friend with the person. 
Eg: 调侃: 哎呦, 美女, 今天气色不错呀!
开玩笑: 这谁家帅哥啊, 发型太帅了!


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## Kelby

I see no problem with using 帅哥 to respond to him. I'm a 老外 in Henan and I use this sort of banter with my friends all of the time. 
If you want to be a little less distant, you might consider calling your coworker "小（性）“ if you know his surname.


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## BODYholic

Kelby said:


> I see no problem with using 帅哥 to respond to him. I'm a 老外 in Henan and I use this sort of banter with my friends all of the time.
> If you want to be a little less distant, you might consider calling your coworker "小（性）“ if you know his surname.


此性非彼姓。


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## PurplePanada

The real mean of 帅哥 handsome man Is it really an issue? And if it is, what should I use instead?  Right now I always use 姐 or 大姐 just to be sure I don't "hurt" some one.


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## Kelby

BODYholic said:


> 此性非彼姓。



谢谢，打错了，不好意思 D：

As for being nervous about using these, I was a little afraid I'd say something stupid at first too. 

However, 帅哥 Is used for men and 美女 is used for women just like BODYholic described, and despite the direct translation I've personally never had anyone take offense or think I was was hitting on them. 

I'd like to note that it would be a little strange if you used either of these with anyone too much older than you. For example, for a man who is middle aged but not quite your dad's age (i.e., it would be weird to call him 叔叔) you probably wouldn't use 帅哥 unless you know them well.


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## zhg

Wishonatrish,the reason why Your coworker called you 美女 is that you don't have a Chinese name, that what's people do when they don't know the addressee's name, (otherwise nicknames will be used if one feels bored to call his full name)it's just a way of showing common courtesy. Better than ignoring you or naming you laowai right?


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## Rethliopuks

I would recommend you not to use 帅哥/美女 as greeting to strangers who apparently are not so "fashioned" or "open-minded" that would accept them without feeling very strange, and never use it in formal situation.


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## rockcracker

In front of a stranger:
帅哥/美女，帮我们照张相好吗？
帅哥/美女，帮我个忙好吗？
帅哥/美女，请问...怎么走？

Traditionally and formally, use “您好” instead of "帅哥/美女", but is also very common.

对陌生人称呼“帅哥/美女”，他们会很高兴也更乐意帮忙，不过对年龄大的这样称呼不合适。
不要对熟悉的人称呼“帅哥/美女”，不过如果是评价他们或是调侃则可以这样说，the same as in English。


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## tnts

totally agree with zhg , but I've never used "帅哥" to call anyone , cause I think it's a soulless word . It's really informal but not lively.


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## Ali Smith

Can 帅哥 also be used as an adjective? For example, 我也以前帅哥。(I used to be handsome too.)


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## Shazhudao945

No, 帅 is an adjective, but 帅哥 is always used as a noun.

我以前也很帅。  （And usually we don't use 帅 alone， we put it together with other words like here 很帅， 不帅，那么帅）


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## Ali Smith

Shazhudao945 said:


> No, 帅 is an adjective, but 帅哥 is always used as a noun.
> 
> 我以前也很帅。  （And usually we don't use 帅 alone， we put it together with other words like here 很帅， 不帅，那么帅）



Thanks, but wouldn't 我以前也很帅。 mean "I used to be very handsome too."?
To say "I used to be handsome too." I think you would say 我以前也帅。
Am I right?


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## SuperXW

Ali Smith said:


> Thanks, but wouldn't 我以前也很帅。 mean "I used to be very handsome too."?
> To say "I used to be handsome too." I think you would say 我以前也帅。
> Am I right?


我以前也帅 is understandable and acceptable.
However, when the statement is short and confirmative, Chinese tend to the "subject+很+adjective" structure.


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## Jerry Chen

1. 帅哥/美女 means handsome/beautiful, so you know, must be careful
2.you can use them to young man/woman or kids, even using them between family members, eg, 爷爷/奶奶爱说小帅哥，今天吃什么呢？我们的美女回来啦！
3.it's better not to use them to middle age/old man, especially if they are older than you
4.  您好/你好，嗨 are always popular.



Shazhudao945 said:


> No, 帅 is an adjective, but 帅哥 is always used as a noun.
> 
> 我以前也很帅。  （And usually we don't use 帅 alone， we put it together with other words like here 很帅， 不帅，那么帅）



他会晕船的🤣。帅哥作为一个偏正词组，哥是中心词，帅是限定词，但帅哥一起还是可以作为名词(noun)用的



Ali Smith said:


> Can 帅哥 also be used as an adjective? For example, 我也以前帅哥。(I used to be handsome too.)


1.我也以前帅哥 is wrong. 也 is a adverb words,it compared with other things, and used to emphasize something, you can not use 也以前
2.帅哥 is noun word, you can say 我以前也   是   一个帅哥 or 我以前也(很)帅(气). 帅(气) is a adjective word and 很 is a adverb word, using it to emphasize 帅(气)


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