老闆你好as a term of endearment to customers

[歐博思]

Do some people greet you "老闆你好“，when you are the customer? I feel my ears are deceiving me, but consistently deceiving me. Taiwanese Mandarin.

[889]

In the Mainland, it's not rare to be addressed as 老闆 by a shopkeeper, mainly in the sort of places where you have a conversation about what you're looking for and what he has available. Maybe more so in the South, I'm not sure. Anyway, it always sounds nice. More mild flattery than endearment, I'd say.

[abcdefg]

1 hour ago, 歐博思 said:

Do some people greet you "老闆你好“，when you are the customer?

 

This happens a lot in Hong Kong and Macao.

[歐博思]

Thank you, bosses. Haha.

[Flickserve]

Is it in those small stores where people use this on you? ?

[abcdefg]

10 hours ago, 歐博思 said:

Thank you, bosses. Haha.

 

Not appropriate here, in this context. You have missed the point. 

 

It's an "over-politeness," used when someone is trying to subtly flatter you to influence you to buy something. Or when someone is trying to get you to leave a tip after a service has been rendered. Extremely common in the saunas and massage parlors of Macau and to a lesser extent Hong Kong. 

 

I don't recall running into it in Taiwan, but I could have just missed it. 

 

OP -- Where did you encounter this form of address? In what context?

[歐博思]

8 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Not appropriate here, in this context. You have missed the point. 

No I got it. I just wanted to bring up 'boss' to gauge peoples' reactions and thoughts on the English version. Thank you for your thoughts on it.

 

Heard it in a noodle shop I frequent. Didn't hear it until I became a regular, too. Taoyuan Mandarin.

[Shelley]

Here in the UK its not uncommon for someone you don't know to call you boss, things like Thanks Boss, Ok Boss, etc. I think its done to try and puff up your self esteem, to make you feel bigger than the person calling you Boss.

 

There was also a period of time where it was used as an exclamation of approval, someone might say "Here you go, have a second slice of cake" you would reply "Boss, thank you" This use lasted about 5 years but seems to have died out, at least among the people I talk to.

 

[Flickserve]

On 4/13/2019 at 4:22 PM, 歐博思 said:

Heard it in a noodle shop I frequent. Didn't hear it until I became a regular, too. Taoyuan Mandarin.

 

A term for friendly endearment to a regular customer. After all, they depend on your business to survive so in effect, you are the boss.

[ouyangjun]

Yes