|
|
Post by sdtraveller on Sept 16, 2009 15:51:26 GMT -5
Upon entering a shop, cafe, etc, and wishing to greet female proprietor(s)/employee(s), how do you know whether to follow "Bon Jour" with "Madames/Mesdames" or with "Mademoiselle/Mesdemoiselles"? Does one guess at the age(s) or the age(s) relative to one's own? Or is there a protocol that female shopkeepers, waitresses, etc. are addressed in a certain way, regardless of age?
|
|
|
|
Post by PariS on Sept 16, 2009 17:20:06 GMT -5
Hmmm....I think we've discussed this before. I'll try to find the thread for you!
Okay, I tried, but my search function still isn't working for me. Is anyone else having trouble with that?
|
|
nutsabouttravel
Full Member
Fais que ton r?ve soit plus long que la nuit
Posts: 154
|
Post by nutsabouttravel on Sept 16, 2009 19:10:29 GMT -5
If the female is old enough to work, it is "madame." Mademoiselle is used for children.
|
|
|
|
Post by Truffaut on Sept 16, 2009 19:16:49 GMT -5
"Madame" carries with it a certain social status, so it's nearly always the more appropriate choice.
|
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Sept 17, 2009 7:16:12 GMT -5
Generally speaking, and that includes letters writing too, Mademoiselle (= miss) is used for any non-married girl who is or looks less than, say, 30 years old. Using that term for an older woman is usually considered as unkind and thus a bit rude since it brings back the image of the "vieille fille" (spinster) from the old days.
However, there was also the tradition in the old days to systematically call "mademoiselle" any employee (office, shop, restaurant) and even if this has disappeared from offices, one still tends to call shop or café/restaurant employee "mademoiselle" with a bit less regard to her apparent age than in normal life. Conversly, the proprietor will be "madame" unless she looks really very young. Something to do with the social status that Truffaut mentions.
|
|
|
|
Post by sdtraveller on Sept 17, 2009 14:53:18 GMT -5
I'm afraid I do not know the answer to my original question. Age? Employment position? Is there no definitive answer?
|
|
|
|
Post by sunshine817 on Sept 17, 2009 15:33:53 GMT -5
No, there isn't a definitive answer.
If you wouldn't call her Miss, don't call her Mademoiselle.
You also will rarely, if ever, insult a young woman by calling her Madame, even if you're conveying more age and maturity upon her than she actually has.
You can, however, royally upset a woman by calling her Mademoiselle, because it conveys upon her a LACK of age and maturity.
I was told that if she's old enough to have a job and to be paying her own bills, then she's old enough to be called Madame.
I'm a proponent of staying on the safe side of the line, so unless she's with her mother (and obviously very young), I just use Madame.
|
|
|
|
Post by sdtraveller on Sept 19, 2009 11:06:56 GMT -5
"Bon jour, madame" it is!!
Thanks to all.
|
|
Let the riot begin! LOL - 
hahahha