muchacha or mujer?

[hanswulff82]

Which term should I use when talking to girls who are young adults, say between 18 and 30 years old?
Seems to me like mujer is more equivalent to "women". And what about the term "chica"?

 

[Ken]

How old are you? How well do you know the women? The appropriate term depends somewhat on your age, their age, and how well you know them.

I would use muchacha with most. 30, mas o menos, seems a little old for muchacha but could be used.

Chica I would not use unless I knew the younger women. I don't think I would use it for someone around 30 unless she was working the street.

 

[bob saunders]

las mujeres j?venes, or just joven.

 

[jrhartley]

well women in their nineties call themselves girls where I come from ....so I suppose anything will do

 

[rubio_higuey]

Well, I usually call them joven when they are young, sometimes chica, and when they are older - se?ora or do?a. I am 28 so I don't think calling the young ones chica or joven is disrespectful.
And the men... I call varon when they are young and se?or when they are older.
And the kids... amiguito...

 

[jrhartley]

I thought varon just meant male ...ive seen it on toilet door at el fogon

 

[Keith R]

las mujeres j?venes, or just joven.

I agree with Bob -- just call them joven.

 

[bob saunders]

Well sometimes when YRIS is talking to a good friend, and they've just done or said something foolish she will call them Muchacha, sort of like " you go girl "

 

[Keith R]

Well sometimes when YRIS is talking to a good friend, and they've just done or said something foolish she will call them Muchacha, sort of like " you go girl "

If she's like my wife, it's probably more like "?mire muchacha!" :cheeky:

 

[Ken]

I guess that I wasn't fully awake this morning when I wrote the first reply to this thread. Joven is the proper word, it is the term used most often by Dominicans when addressing a sales clerk or someone who is not a friend.

Yes, Keith B, varon is for males. Ask a Dominican about his children and he will talk of varons and hembras.

 

[Norma Rosa]

I agree with those that said joven, it is a very respectful term. You may use se?orita, also; se?ora, do?a if she is older. Regardless of the age, or marital status, it is never polite in our society to use mujer.

 

[RacerX]

nor chica. Chica implies a woman of slightly tenderized morals. Hahaha.

 

[dv8]

i use "se?ora" or "mami" if a woman is very young
or sometimes i say "linda"

 

[Kyle]

interesting. i got cussed out in english by a dominican woman (really funny) once for using "mi amor" yet i hear lots of people using it.