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продавец продавщица

Posted: Apr 18th, 16, 15:23
by Tijuca
Hi there, can a woman say я продавиец or is it only correct to say я продавщица ? In other words, is it correct to use продавец for both genders? Спасибо

Re: продавец продавщица

Posted: Apr 20th, 16, 00:38
by HelenNewman
it is correct to say: "ona - prodavets", moreover it is a more polite way to say so, rather than to say "ona - prodavshchitsa", because the latter has a slightly negative connotation - the image of somebody who is called so - "a nervous, rude, impolite, not well educated woman in a store with a terrible bleached hair". To say that you are a 'prodavets' means to avoid this image.
The same is with a 'secretary'. It's a bit offensive to be called 'secretarsha' in Russian (again, the image - of a very lightheaded girl in mini, not a professional employee).
It's a kind of psychological thing.
I know that in German it's quite normal to have male or female endings for jobs. Well, that's because you don't associate them with any particular images.