cute

Question

How would you say a gi is cute'

Answer 1

Sally said:

No it doesn't apply in all regions. Cute in Central America is chula.

In Argentina we would say: lindo, encantador, precioso...

Answer 2

"Mona(o)" in Colombia is someone who has blondish hair or is fair skinned. However they don't say, "Está mona," but "Es mona" or they might refer to the person as "la mona". It translates as "güero(a)" which is how someone from Mexico would say it. That being said, I don't know for a fact that the people there wouldn't get the other meaning as well.

Answer 3

I would be careful with calling a girl mono or mona depending on the country you will get a smile or a slap. I use preciosa/o or linda/o for a child and guapa or hermosa for a girl or woman. . There are lots of words for cute depending on context and country. I find these to be the understood every where.

Answer 4

James Santiago said:

I've always understood how calling a baby a monkey could be construed as meaning "cute," but I'm not sure I'd want to call my girlfriend a monkey.

Esto es de Lázaro Carreter, antiguo director de la RAE:

Por lo demás, como he dicho, mono, monada (y monería) tienen antigua raigambre en castellano. Su actual acepción debió producirse a fines del XVII, pues ya la registra el Diccionario de Autoridades. Y la evolución semántica que condujo a ella parece clara. Mono se llamó al imitador (aún hoy hablamos de mono de imitación). Jiménez Patón (1639) sentenciaba con extremada conciencia de clase: «Que un mecánico humilde, un zafio labrador quiera ser mono en esto [traer galas] y otras cosas, es vicio intolerable». También se señalaba así a quien intentaba llamar la atención coquetamente; Fray Juan de los Ángeles (1608) execraba a las monjas livianas que «están en los coros como monas, haciendo gestos y meneas».
Pero después, poco después, se vio el lado bueno de tales acciones (el XVIII es el primer siglo moderno porque quitó a muchas cosas naturales el sambenito de ilícitas),el Padre Feijoo (1742) aporta esta noticia sobre el modo de producirse aquel cambio semántico: «A cada paso se ven niñas que, con sus jueguecillos, imitan aquella festiva inquietud de las monas: y aun por eso se suele dar a aquellos juguetes el nombre de monadas o monerías; y de las niñas que son muy festivas se dice que son muy monas.»

Answer 5

No it doesn't apply in all regions. Cute in Central America is chula.

Answer 6

Heidita said:

say that mono is usually only used (as far as I know) for very young children Not here.

Es muy mona. She is cute/pretty. for older and younger women, same applies to men.

OK, good to know. Does anyone know if that applies in Latin America? I have only heard people use mono to say babies, puppies, etc., are cute. The DRAE says "Dicho especialmente de los niños y de las cosas pequeñas y delicadas: Bonito, lindo, gracioso."

I've always understood how calling a baby a monkey could be construed as meaning "cute," but I'm not sure I'd want to call my girlfriend a monkey.

I used to have a boat, and I named it Smooth Monkey. My wife's name is Lisa, and she's my Mona Lisa.

Answer 7

say that mono is usually only used (as far as I know) for very young children

Not here.

Es muy mona. She is cute/pretty. for older and younger women, same applies to men.

Answer 8

samdie said:

Double-click on the word. That will bring up a window with the dictionary entry.

The dictionary here doesn't give much information about the words it lists, and it gives both bonito and mono for cute, but doesn't say that mono is usually only used (as far as I know) for very young children. For an older girl or a woman, I would use bonita in most cases.

Answer 9

Double-click on the word. That will bring up a window with the dictionary entry.