Juanita?

Question

Hola! I just visited Cozumel for the first time ever and was surprised when men would call me "juanita". Is that not a woman's name? Is it used as a diminuitive'

Answer 1

or if it just meant, "Hey babe...[fill in rest of conversation]"

I found every last [male] human being that I encountered on Cozumel to be polite, friendly, and charming.

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

Now the truth is becoming evident! You consider yourself a "babe".

So you were flirting with every guy in Cozumel. Now we can't start searching for things rhyming with Juanita that they may have actually been referring to you as.

Ha ha ha. No , I don't think I'm a babe. Maybe "hon" or "sweetie" or "dear" would be a better word?

I do know they were saying Juanita, because some did say senorita and the difference was pretty clear.

Answer 2

hola bonita
no,no me llamo Kristina
si, pero eres bonita

Answer 3

Not to mention the annoying habit that Mexicans in tourist areas have of always talking to you in English, even if you talk to them in Spanish.

I often find a simple phrase like "hágame el favor de hablar en español. Necesito la práctica", generally gets them talking to you in Spanish.

Answer 4

or if it just meant, "Hey babe...[fill in rest of conversation]"

I found every last [male] human being that I encountered on Cozumel to be polite, friendly, and charming.

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

Now the truth is becoming evident! You consider yourself a "babe".

So you were flirting with every guy in Cozumel. Now we can't start searching for things rhyming with Juanita that they may have actually been referring to you as.

Answer 5

the people who were calling me Juanita didn't necessarily KNOW my name.

Please don't be offended by my question but are you sure they were not calling you "señorita"'

Answer 6

Not to mention the annoying habit that Mexicans in tourist areas have of always talking to you in English, even if you talk to them in Spanish.

I hope that isn't a reflection on your linguistic abilities.

They may have been conveying an unspoken judgment.

Yo nunca tengo problemas con mexicanos que no hablan inglés, nos comprendemos perfectamente. Por supuesto hablo español con un accento, pero lo mismo se pasa con mi inglés.

A mi me parece que los trabajadores en el sector turístico no quieren perder una oportunidad de mejorar su inglés. Por eso no los culpo.

Answer 7

Sorry about the confusion, people. I KNOW it's a Spanish woman's name, but it's nowhere near mine (which is Christine--mucho gusto!, but it was always repeated back to me as "Cristina'" for the entire week) and the people who were calling me Juanita didn't necessarily KNOW my name. Confused yet? I just wanted to know if there was a deeper meaning to it or if it just meant, "Hey babe...[fill in rest of conversation]"

I found every last human being that I encountered on Cozumel to be polite, friendly, and charming.

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

Answer 8

Not to mention the annoying habit that Mexicans in tourist areas have of always talking to you in English, even if you talk to them in Spanish.

This is all very strange...

I hope that isn't a reflection on your linguistic abilities.
They may have been conveying an unspoken judgment.

Answer 9

Her profile notes her gender as female.
That rules out a funny nick. ...maybe...

Answer 10

Hola! I just visited Cozumel for the first time ever and was surprised when men would call me "juanita". Is that not a woman's name? Is it used as a diminuitive?

This (in bold) is what I am referring to.

I know, it flew by me...I updated my post.

Answer 11

What confuses me about this post is, Christina is a woman's name, so, why would Christina be confused that they referred to her in a woman's name? I can understand the confusion for using an incorrect name, but why the confusion about the gender?

I think she only questioned the gender because she was not sure what Juanita meant. What she said is that MEN called her Juanita...it's probably some kind of colloquial flirt. (piropo)

Answer 12

Hola! I just visited Cozumel for the first time ever and was surprised when men would call me "juanita". Is that not a woman's name? Is it used as a diminuitive?

This (in bold) is what I am referring to.

Answer 13

What confuses me about this post is, Christina is a woman's name, so, why would Christina be confused that they referred to her in a woman's name? I can understand the confusion for using an incorrect name, but why the confusion about the gender'

Answer 14

I don't think it's usual for Mexicans, or any Latin American, to call you using the diminutive except if you're a child or a long-time friend. It would be disrespectful.

I can't even conceive the dialogue:

• Hola, mucho gusto, soy de [país extranjero], mi nombre es Christina

• Mucho gusto Juanita. Bienvenida a Cozumel.

Strange, no?

No no no...the conversation was like this:

Hola Juanita!
Nooo...mi nombre es Christina.
Oh, ok Juanita...(and the nickname just stuck).

Answer 15

I don't think it's usual for Mexicans, or any Latin American, to call you using the diminutive except if you're a child or a long-time friend. It would be disrespectful.

I can't even conceive the dialogue:

• Hola, mucho gusto, soy de [país extranjero], mi nombre es Joanne
• Mucho gusto Juanita. Bienvenida a Cozumel.

Not to mention the annoying habit that Mexicans in tourist areas have of always talking to you in English, even if you talk to them in Spanish.

This is all very strange...