I wanted to call the waitress sweetheart in a non-affectionate way

Question

So we went to dinner, at a small hole in the wall dive that I like. The food is mediocre but the atmosphere is tops. Our waitress was friendly, and being that we are in Texas, we call people we don't know well sweetheart and honey and darling.

How you doing tonight sweetheart? Very common. So I wanted to call her sweetheart so I used mija. My mom was with me so we thought about how you would say sweetheart in a non affectionate way and both thought mija was best, better than querida and cariño. What do you guys think? Gracias.

Answer 1

Everyone has really good points and I thank everyone for their thoughtful input. I have decided that mija is probably only OK for someone I consider a real friend, and I think Heidita's suggestion of "guapa" is perfect, and I will use that. Thank you all for your great replies!

We should talk about m'ija some time. I'm not sure you're really "getting" how it's used. - Gekkosan, Feb 24, 2011

If you mean, because she's younger it's OK to use it, age difference etc.. then ya I don't get that. - jeezzle, Feb 24, 2011

Answer 2

There is a local restaurant where I join my friends for breakfast now and then, because of the familiarity, I call the waitress "dulce'. she has her own pet name for me but I won't post it here.

You can email it to me if you like, I am interested in knowing all the names you could call someone. - jeezzle, Feb 24, 2011