Chica o señorita

Question

In a dialogue a man approaches a group women and says "Hola Chicas", Hi girls. In English this could get you in trouble if you weren't familiar with these women. Does that hold true in Spanish? Would the safe thing to say be "Hola Señoras" or señoritas?

Soy una feminista.

Soy feminista. The "una" is unnecessary unless accompanied by another adjective. - Daniela2041, Jul 13, 2015

Just say ´Buenas tardes´or whatever. Much safer, Kiss all their cheeks repeatedly, hug them and pat them on the back and it will all go very well. - annierats, Jul 13, 2015

Answer 1

If they (the women) are young, the polite form of address would be "señoritas"

Among young people, even those who are unfamiliar with each other, "chicas" would not be uncommon.

Dani, much as I respect you, this illustration looks outdated. He would say ' chicas' and the girl would , laughingly, say ' caballero', maybe, or chico. Not señor. - annierats, Jul 13, 2015

Answer 2

As in English the age is not a problem.

The problem is if you are in front of older women and you are not their friend.

With older women, though, it will always work if you treat them as "señoritas" with a smile.

Very seldom, as might happen in English, one of the older women might get annoyed and states she is married or something to that effect.

Answer 3

Do not say ' señoras' unless the chicas are in their 50's. Although it is a courtesy term, it can carry a sort of ' ageing' insult.

'Chicas' is used very commonly in Spain. I've hardly ever heard ' señoritas' as a collective nount. My teachers all say ' chicas' regardless of the age of the pupils and whether the teacher is familiar with the group or not.

This is in Spain. Señorita is probably like ' Miss ' in Englsish, out of fashion and not used in the plural.

Estoy de acuerdo señorita :) - Pablo064, Jul 13, 2015

Siento, Pablo, de verdad , me llaman señora.. Es un poco triste pero as es. - annierats, Jul 14, 2015