What's the joke in this 4コマ comic?


In [this 4コマ漫画{まんが}](http://www.j-cast.com/2013/06/03175373.html), a four
panel comic, a young attractive woman walks through a station ticket gate, but
there's something wrong with her ticket. The station attendant calls after
her, first by calling out `お客{きゃく}さん！`, which is "customer" or "passenger", a
usual way for a staff to refer to a patron. She does not respond. So then he
calls out `おネエさん！`, which is something like "miss" or "young lady". She still
does not respond. He calls out `おネエさま！`, which is again "miss" or "young lady"
or something like that, just with the politeness upped a little. She does not
respond.

Finally, he calls out `お嬢{じょう}さま！`. Which, as far as I've understood its
usage, is still just a way of saying "young woman" or "daughter". My
dictionary also says it means "unmarried woman".

My feeling is that this comic isn't wildly hysterical in any case, but there's
some kind of nuance to the fact that she only responds to `お嬢{じょう}さま！` that is
supposed to be kind of amusing. But to my non-native Japanese level of
comprehension, it's just different ways of referring to a young woman, so I'm
not seeing the extra connotations that support the humour.

What is it about her responding only to `お嬢{じょう}さま！` that is in any way
noteworthy? Is the fact that the man beside her is more distant from her in
the last panel relevant (in that he is clearly not her husband)?

Lastly, I thought `おネエさん！` would be too casual for a station attendant.
Wouldn't it translate to something like "hey, babe"?

![フジ三太郎 comic](https://i.stack.imgur.com/E5Nvz.gif)




About the nuance of お嬢さま.

The difference is visual. Someone described as お嬢様, besides being a young
unmarried female, has also cultivated (or been raised to have) a sense of
upper-class refinement, most immediately evident through her appearance and
attitude. Perhaps in between Scarlett O'Hara and Holly Golightly?

Looking closely at that フジ三太郎 comic strip, there's a suggestion of erectness
in the straight shoulders; of an elegant gate, in the slight to-and-fro swish
of the skirt; of luxury, in the chicness of the clothes, particularly the
chain-link strap of the purse; and in the long straight hair and slight
makeup, of a self-awareness of girlish attractiveness. It takes the ticket
attendant a moment to recognize how these signs distinguish her from a woman
who just happens to be young, i.e., an おねえさん.

Perhaps it's proof of this perception of mine that, until I looked it up just
now on WWWJDIC, I had always thought 嬢 meant "princess".

Thanks for the question and introducing me to a new comic strip.




It's from サトウサンペイ's フジ三太郎 in 朝日新聞, the man who looks back is its main
character フジ三太郎, so he has to appear somewhere in the strip every day (I
guess). I think 「お客さん！」＞「おねえさん！」＞「お嬢さん！」(in three panels) could have worked
too.  

I think it's just お嬢さん/お嬢さま sounds younger than おねえさん/おねえさま. The lady
unconsciously ignores おねえさん and おねえさま because she thinks she's too young to be
called that way. We readers, especially male readers, feel like "Ah I know how
this station employee feels" "This is what women are" "They always feel
younger than they really are" etc.  

> I thought おネエさん！ would be too casual for a station attendant.  
>

I agree. I don't expect them to call me おねえさん either. At least, it wouldn't
sound polite.  

> Wouldn't it translate to something like "hey, babe"?  
>

Not necessarily. It depends on the situation and how you say it.

