Miss, past and present

First, let's dissect and briefly analyze this compound word. According to Baidu Encyclopedia:

Xiao (小) is a character first seen in Oracle Bone Script, originally meaning "fine dust", later expanded to mean "small", then further meaning "modest", "young" or "young people". Xiao is also used as a humble word to refer to oneself or things related to oneself.

Shu (姐) is a character that first appeared in Small Seal script in Shuowen Jiezi, its original meaning is another way to refer to mother. In ancient times, people of Shu called mother Shu (姐), then the meaning was expanded to "older sister" ( Nang cai trai man luc by Ngo Tang of the Southern Song Dynasty).

Miss (小姐) is a compound word, originating from the book Cai du tung kao by Trieu Duc in the Qing Dynasty. This term includes the following meanings:

When used as an honorific, "miss" usually comes before the name of an unmarried woman or young girl or refers to young girls in general.

In Vietnam, since the 19th century, the word "young lady" is similar to today's definition, often used to refer to a girl or daughter of a wealthy family, for example: " The young lady took her back " ( The Tale of Kieu , Lieu Van Duong version, 1866). In Chinese literature, "young lady" means a daughter of a noble family ( The first sketch of the capital (volume 5) by Lang Mong So written at the end of the Ming Dynasty; Dream of the Red Chamber (chapter 45) by Cao Tuyet Can during the Qing Dynasty).

In ancient times, "tieu thu" was a word used to refer to a maid, concubine or meant "ca nu" (a girl who specializes in singing) in the book Di kien tam chi ky (volume 4) by Hong Mai of the Southern Song Dynasty or was a title referring to a wife, madam (first act in the play Kim An Tho by Gia Trong Danh of the Ming Dynasty).

In slang, "young lady" refers to "prostitute".

The term "young lady of the boudoir" refers to a talented and virtuous woman from a prestigious family, a phrase originating from the chapter " Xian Yuan" in "The New Worldly Tales" compiled and edited by Liu Yiqing during the Southern Song Dynasty.

Besides "young lady", there are some similar words such as: nu nhi (daughter); nu si (lady, madam); co nuong (unmarried girl). However, different from " young lady ", co nuong also means "concubine, concubine" or "aunt, aunt", that is, father's sister, also called aunt ( Old Tan Du Ky , chapter 8).

In addition, the young lady is also called "mi" (密斯, mísī), a form of address for unmarried women, a transliteration of the word "Miss" in English.

Nowadays, Miss is also the word for the winner of a beauty contest, often named after the region. For example: Miss China (Miss China); Miss World (Miss World).

If we read a text translated from Chinese, sometimes we see that "miss" stops at a word indicating gender, but the meaning depends on the accompanying adjective. For example: Miss Mermaid is "mermaid" or "mermaid"; Miss Toa Thai is "bar girl" or "professional escort"; and of course Miss Thien is not a girl falling from the sky but a... "flight attendant"; Miss Choir is a female singer or a female hostess working at a karaoke bar, often chatting with customers, singing and sometimes drinking with them...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tieu-thu-nghia-xua-va-nay-185250801230953723.htm