when to use "cute"?
Watching TV in America, one of the words you will hear so many times is “CUTE”
If you look up an English dictionary, cute is an adjective meaning “attractive or pleasingly pretty”. Having this kind of definition, it sounds like I can use this word in so many situations. But, the more I live here in the U.S., the more I feel like there are bunch of situations you do not want to use this adjective.
So, I would like to illustrate a few situations which are fine.
Situation 1 : When you had a chance to talk to a person with a baby and you think the baby is so adorable. “So cute baby!!” or you could use adorable itself like “She is so adorable!”
Situation 2 : For pets like “Your dog is so cute!”
Situation 3 : Watching TV, you see really famous handsome guy like Brad Pitt, assuming you are a lady, you could say, “he is so cute!” Or If you see me in the climbing wall, you could say “Terry! you are so cute!” Then I would say, “I know! Thanks!” Haha, just kidding!
And the following situations are the ones I have felt not proper.
Situation 1: When I am hanging out with my friends, I tell my friend’s wife, “Oh you are so cute!” This seems weird. By the way, if you go to Korea and you are interested in a woman, do not say “You are cute!” because it means you are not beautiful. Usually, in Korea, when a guy thinks that a woman is not beautiful and he does not know what to say, guys use “You are cute.” But, “You are beautiful” should be fine. ……. But, I know, guys, it is hard to say “You are beautiful” to a woman when you do not think she is. How about if I say “You are so beautiful!” to my friend’s wife. Is this also weird?
Situation 2: In the same situation, my wife tells my male friend, “Oh you are so cute!” or “I think your hands are so cute!” This situation actually happened before. When I was hanging out with Jake, Patrick and Rachel, my wife told Jake, “Jake! Your hands are so cute!” That was the time I was actually curious whether it is proper to use it or not.
So I am curious when is a proper time to use cute? Well, actually, when is not a proper time to use it?
Well, now that we know that when you say “cute”, it’s really a way of saying “not that pretty” in Korean, I’d agree that Jake’s hands are “cute”. However, I wouldn’t say that it’s normal to call a guy’s hands “cute”.
I actually happen to have very attractive hands … for a woman (come check out my cuticles some time – they’re immaculate). Guys tend not to like to think of their hands as cute. Rugged or manly would probably be better. OTOH, I don’t think you’d really call a woman’s hands cute either. I would probably go for “pretty” or “delicate” if it’s a woman.
I think woman always love to hear that they’re beautiful. I think *some* women would be ok with “cute”, but I’d say most aspire to be “beautiful” and would consider “cute” on par with “good personality”. YMMV.
I agree too! Jake’s hands are so so cute! About your hands, I need to check them with other ladies in the office. Cannot believe it!! For the non-native English speakers who may see this post,
1. OTOH : “On The Other Hand”
2. YMMV : “Your Mileage May Vary” means your results may vary.
Haha! Terry, I just came across this blog of yours! I had to comment on this one. I tend to use the word “cute” very freely and I will tell people all the time that they are “so cute”. I will even say this to males. One could argue that a male would prefer to be “handsome” or something of a more rugged and manly nature. However, usually the people I say this to know me fairly well and so they know that it is a term of endearment from me. In fact, I’ve probably told you that you are cute before! Usually I am referring to the actions/sayings of someone, not necessarily the looks.
In regards to whether I think it is okay to call a woman “cute”…I think it also depends on how well you know her/how comfortable you are with her. I, for one, don’t really expect to be called “beautiful”, because if we are all honest, there aren’t that many woman that are actually “beautiful” by most people’s standards. Now of course a husband might think his wife is “beautiful” even though an objective person may not, but that is different. So, all of this to say, I am not offended if someone tells me I am “cute”….in fact I would say that the majority of the time the person isn’t necessarily referring to looks when they say this, but rather to the actions/sayings of that person as being cute. Although, I guess it would depend on who was telling me this…if it was someone who doesn’t normally say this, I might be a little surprised! So, that is my opinion! Hopefully it doesn’t make you more confused on the matter:).
Hey! Leah! Good to see you here! I had to move your comment to here from my old blog page. Now that you mention about your usage of “cute”, I do remember you told me. I think it was about some of my acts toward Jessy. Well, I think it all depends on how close I am with the people and the situation or circumstances. It is all interesting to me, seeing a little different opinions from my friends.